FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
January 30, 2019
Steve Marshall
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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Attorney General Steve Marshall Welcomes 11th Circuit Decision to Reinstate
Dismissal of Lawsuit Against the Alabama Uniform Minimum Wage and Right-to-
Work Act
(MONTGOMERY) -Attorney General Steve Marshall applauded a federal appeals court’s
decision that reinstates the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the State of Alabama regarding
its minimum-wage law. In the case, Lewis v. Governor of Alabama, the full U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 11th Circuit today vacated a decision handed down last July by a three-judge panel of
that court, which reversed the district court’s dismissal of the lawsuit. In light of today’s
decision, the full 11th Circuit will consider the matter later this year.
“Alabama has the same right as other states to enact a minimum-wage law and it is unjust to
accuse Alabama’s Legislature of racism when other states have not only passed similar
minimum-wage laws, but those laws have also been upheld by other courts,” said Attorney
General Marshall.
The Alabama Uniform Minimum Wage and Right-to-Work Act was passed in 2016 following
efforts by the City of Birmingham to set a local minimum wage. Language within the law stated
that its purpose was “to ensure that [labor] regulation and policy is applied uniformly
throughout the state.” A number of groups and individuals subsequently filed a lawsuit in U.S.
District Court in Birmingham asserting claims of racial discrimination in connection with the
Act’s enactment.
Today’s 11th Circuit ruling vacates a July 25, 2018, three-judge panel decision that reversed a
February 1, 2017, federal district court ruling in favor of Alabama’s motion to dismiss the
lawsuit.
“I welcome the full 11th Circuit Court’s decision to rehear en banc Alabama’s motion to dismiss
this lawsuit, and I believe the State of Alabama will ultimately prevail and Alabama’s minimum
wage law will be upheld,” Attorney General Marshall added.
11th Circuit Court Decision
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