Mothering Justice et al. v. Dana Nessel et al.

  • State of Michigan Court of Appeals
  • Filed
  • Updated

Case Movement

Case Details

  • Case Status: Pending
  • Docket Number: 362271
  • Category: Preemption

Issue

In July 2022, a Michigan Court of Claims judge ruled that a 2018 voter-initiated statute (Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act) which increases the minimum wage and phases out the “tip credit” in the state, should be restored and take effect immediately and that the amendments made to the statute post-election were no longer in effect.

September 29, 2022

The Restaurant Law Center and the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association filed an amicus brief, arguing that the Michigan restaurant industry would be uniquely impacted by a lower court decision that would eliminate the “tip credit”. The court held that the Improved Workforce Opportunity Wage Act was improperly amended by the state legislature during the same legislative session to reinstate the tip credit—after vocal opposition to its abolition from both tipped workers and restaurants. The Michigan legislature has the power to amend voter-initiated laws during the same legislative session, as opposed to voter-adopted laws that must wait until a “subsequent” legislative session to be amended.

January 26, 2023

A unanimous panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the Michigan Legislature has the right to amend citizen-initiated laws. The unanimous ruling is in line with the arguments of the Restaurant Law Center and the Michigan Restaurant Association, which argued that the Michigan legislature has the power to amend voter-initiated laws during the same legislative session, as opposed to voter-adopted laws that must wait until a “subsequent” legislative session to be amended.

April 19, 2023

The Restaurant Law Center and Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association filed an amicus brief arguing that the Michigan Court of Appeals’ unanimous decision, holding that the Michigan Legislature has the right to amend citizen-initiated laws, is well reasoned, detailed (with two concurring opinions), and is unquestionably consistent with the plain text of the Michigan Constitution and decades of precedent. Thus, there is no error or ambiguity and, therefore, simply no reason for the Michigan Supreme Court to grant the requested appeal.

June 21, 2023

The Michigan Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in this case despite our request to reject this appeal given the sound and unanimous Michigan Court of Appeals’ decision.