A Pennsylvania federal district court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to declare unconstitutional a Philadelphia ordinance making it unlawful for employers to inquire into a job applicant’s wage history during the hiring process.

As we previously reported, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia (the “Chamber”) sought to enjoin the new city law in April 2017, arguing, among other things, that it violates the First Amendment rights of the Chamber’s members.  The city agreed to indefinitely delay implementation of the ordinance— previously scheduled to become effective on May 23, 2017—pending the resolution of the legal challenge.

The city moved to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the Chamber failed to plead specific allegations about harm that would be faced by any of its individual business members, and therefore that the Chamber lacked standing to maintain the suit. In granting the city’s motion, the district court found that “as presently pled, it is not clear that one of the Chamber’s members will be adversely affected as the Chamber has failed to allege that any member actually inquires about or relies on wage history, and the City does need to know the identity of a member to respond to the Chamber’s claim of injury.” Therefore, the court held, “[t]he Chamber must identify a member who will suffer specific harm as a result of the ordinance,” and “[b]ecause the Chamber has not met its burden to show that at least one of its members would have standing to bring this suit,” the complaint was dismissed.

UPDATE: The Chamber has renewed its legal challenge to the Philadelphia ordinance, filing an amended complaint two weeks after the district court’s initial dismissal.  In the amended complaint, the Chamber and eleven of its member businesses provide additional information describing the purported impact of the legislation on their businesses.

We will continue to report on any further developments.

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Photo of Allan Bloom Allan Bloom

Allan Bloom is the co-chair of Proskauer’s Labor & Employment Law Department and a nationally recognized litigator and advisor who represents employers, business owners, and management in a broad range of employment and labor law matters. As a litigator, Allan has successfully defended…

Allan Bloom is the co-chair of Proskauer’s Labor & Employment Law Department and a nationally recognized litigator and advisor who represents employers, business owners, and management in a broad range of employment and labor law matters. As a litigator, Allan has successfully defended many of the world’s leading companies against claims for unpaid wages, employment discrimination, breach of contract and wrongful discharge, both at the trial and appellate court levels as well as in arbitration, before government agencies, and in private negotiations. He has secured complete defense verdicts for clients in front of juries, as well as injunctions to protect clients’ confidential information and assets.

As the leader of Proskauer’s Wage and Hour Practice Group, Allan has been a strategic partner to a number of Fortune 500 companies to help them avoid, minimize and manage exposure to wage and hour-related risk. Allan’s views on wage and hour issues have been featured in The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg and Fortune, among other leading publications. His class-action defense work for clients has saved billions of dollars in potential damages.

Allan is regularly called on to advise operating companies, management companies, fund sponsors, boards of directors and senior leadership on highly sensitive matters including executive and key person transitions, internal investigations and strategic workforce planning. He has particular expertise in the financial services industry, where he has litigated, arbitrated, and mediated disputes for more than 20 years.

A prolific author and speaker, Allan was the Editor of the New York State Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Journal from 2012 to 2017. He has served as an author, editor and contributor to a number of leading treatises in the field of employment law, including ADR in Employment Law (ABA/Bloomberg BNA), Employment Discrimination Law (ABA/Bloomberg BNA), Cutting Edge Advances in Resolving Workplace Disputes (Cornell University/CPR), The Employment Law Review (Law Business Research, U.S. Chapter Author), and The Complete Compliance and Ethics Manual (SCCE).

Allan has served as longtime pro bono counsel to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and The Public Theater, among other nonprofit organizations.  He is a past Vice Chair of Repair the World, a nonprofit organization that mobilizes volunteers and their communities to take action to pursue a just world, and a past recipient of the Lawyers Alliance Cornerstone Award for extraordinary contributions through pro bono legal services.

Allan is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and has been recognized as a leading practitioner by Chambers since 2011.

Photo of Laura Fant Laura Fant

Laura Fant is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-administrative leader of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group. Her practice is dedicated to providing clients with practical solutions to common (and uncommon) employment concerns…

Laura Fant is a special employment law counsel in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-administrative leader of the Counseling, Training & Pay Equity Practice Group. Her practice is dedicated to providing clients with practical solutions to common (and uncommon) employment concerns, with a focus on legal compliance, risk management and mitigation strategies, and workplace culture considerations.

Laura regularly counsels clients across numerous industries on a wide variety of employment matters involving recruitment and hiring, employee leave and reasonable accommodation issues, performance management, and termination of employment . She also advises on preparing, implementing and enforcing employment and separation agreements, employee handbooks and company policies, as well as provides training on topics including discrimination and harassment in the workplace. Laura is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Law and the Workplace blog and The Proskauer Brief podcast.