Nov 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge to a 2018 Seattle law requiring hotels to pay for health insurance for low-wage workers pursued by a business group that argued the measure violated a federal law that regulates employee benefits.
The justices declined to hear an appeal by a group called the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) of a lower court's ruling that upheld the law. Their decision not to take up the challenge could encourage other cities and states to adopt similar requirements intended to address the widespread lack of health insurance among low-wage employees.
Democratic-governed Seattle's law requires larger hotel operators to provide up to $1,375 a month in insurance benefits or direct payments to workers. Seattle, with a population of more than 700,000 people, is a city known for its liberal politics and is the largest in Washington state.
ERIC is a nonprofit organization based in the U.S. capital representing large employers in their capacity as sponsors of employee benefit plans for their nationwide workforces.
The group's chief executive officer, Annette Guarisco Fildes, said the Supreme Court's action allows a conflicting nationwide patchwork of employment laws to remain.
"The court's failure to resolve this pressing legal issue now also opens the floodgates for states and cities across the country to impose similar 'play-or-pay' mandates on employers," Fildes said in a statement.
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