Missouri Supreme Court continues its judicial activism with minimum wage decision

The Missouri Supreme Court upheld a local minimum wage increase enacted by the City of St. Louis by reversing a circuit court judge who struck it down in 2015. Associated Industries of Missouri joined other groups in opposing the ability of the City to impose a minimum wage higher than the state minimum wage

Despite the liberal Supreme Court’s gross misinterpretation of state statute, money still doesn’t grow on trees,” said Ray McCarty, president and CEO of Associated Industries of Missouri. “Some minimum wage employees will find themselves without jobs thanks to this misguided decision.”

Beyond the loss of jobs by minimum wage workers, the Court’s decision sets up a potential patchwork quilt of minimum wage requirements across the state.

“The legislature addressed this issue head on with legislation last year clearly stating local governments cannot override state law with their local ordinances,” said McCarty. “The Court, as it has done so often lately, read what the General Assembly wrote and ignored the intent of the law.”

Although the impact of the ruling is not clear, the ruling could potentially raise the minimum wage for businesses within the City of St. Louis to $10 per hour, effective immediately.

AIM will keep you posted of our efforts to enforce the state minimum wage.