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Court Denies Request to Halt Louisville's Minimum Wage Hike

Minimum wage increase supporters at a recent Metro Council meeting.
Minimum wage increase supporters at a recent Metro Council meeting.

Update 4:33 p.m.: Denied
The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Tuesday denied the request for an emergency injunction to stop Louisville's minimum wage from increasing by 50 cents.

The increase will take place on Wednesday.

The court's ruling on the motion said: "Appellants have not shown, however, that the potential overpayments, should the the ordinance be struck, cannot be recovered."

Earlier: The same day a court upheld the city’s minimum wage ordinance, industry groups filed an emergency motion asking a judge to stop the law from going into effect on Wednesday.

On Monday, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman ruled Metro Government had the authority to raise the city’s minimum wage. She also denied a motion to stop the city’s minimum wage from increasing to $7.75 an hour starting Wednesday.

The minimum wage in Louisville is currently $7.25 an hour.

On Monday evening, business groups filed an emergency motion asking the Kentucky Court of Appeals to halt the law from going into effect.

Brent Baughman is an attorney for Kentucky Restaurant Association, the Kentucky Retail Federation and Packaging Unlimited in Louisville.

He said the ordinance will cause "irreparable harm" to employers, and affect them immediately.

"That's money that an employer would pay out and never get back," Baughman said, adding that he's also arguing that the city's ordinance is invalid.

The increase set to take effect Wednesday would be the first phase of the city's minimum wage ordinance, which was approved in December. The city’s minimum wage will ultimately be $9 an hour by July 2017.

The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office filed a response and asked the motion be denied.

You can read the county’s response here:

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