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<br />McCRACKEN, STEMERMAN & HOLSBERRY, LLP <br />Counselors and Attorneys at Law <br />San Francisco <br />February 2, 2021 <br />595MarketStreet,Suite800 <br />SanFrancisco,CA94105 <br />Re: Grocery Worker Hazard Pay Ordinances <br />415.597.7200 <br />To Whom It May Concern, <br />Fax415.597.7201 <br /> Our law firm represents UFCW Local 324. Local 324 has asked us to <br />StevenL.Stemerman(CA,NV) <br />present our legal opinion on hazard pay ordinances that require large grocery <br />RichardG.McCracken(CA,NV) <br />stores to pay front-line workers a wage premium to reflect the hazardous <br />W.DavidHolsberry(CA,NV) <br />conditions in which they work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Local 324 has <br />JohnJ.Davis(CA) <br />asked us for our opinion because we have litigated many of the major cases on <br />KristinL.Martin(CA,NV,HI) <br />the constitutionality of municipal wage protections, including Livadas v. <br />EricB.Myers(CA,NV) <br />Bradshaw, 512 U.S. 107 (1994); American Hotel & Lodging Association v. City <br />PaulL.More(CA,NV,MA) <br />of Los Angeles, 834 F.3d 958 (9th Cir. 2016); RUI One Corp. v. City of <br />SarahVarela(CA,AZ,NV) <br />Berkeley, 371 F.3d 1137 (9th Cir. 2004); Fortuna Enterprises, L.P. v. City of <br />SarahGrossmanSwenson(CA,NV) <br />Los Angeles, 673 F. Supp. 2d 1000 (C.D. Cal. 2008); and Garcia v. Four Points <br />KimberlyHancock(CA) <br />Sheraton LAX, 188 Cal. App. 4th 364 (2010). <br />KimberleyC.Weber(CA,NV) <br />A.MirellaNieto(CA) <br />Grocery worker hazard pay ordinances are fully consistent with the <br />RichardTreadwell(CA) <br />municipal living-wage and other premium-pay ordinances that federal and <br />KaraMaddalena(CA) <br />LukeDowling(CA) <br />California courts have consistently upheld. They pose no constitutional <br />IvyYan(CA) <br />problems whatsoever. <br /> Hazard pay ordinances require that large grocery stores, superstores, and <br />pharmacies pay their frontline workers an additional hourly wage premium—on <br />RobertP.Cowell(19311980) <br />top of their base wages and benefits—to compensate workers for the hazards <br />that they face during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many grocery store chains and <br />pharmacies introduced hazard, or “hero,” pay at the beginning of the pandemic, <br />PhilipPaulBowe(CA)(Ret.) <br />but phased out this premium pay in the Spring or Summer of 2020. So while <br />BarryS.Jellison(CA)(Ret.) <br />major grocery and pharmacy companies like Kroger, Albertsons, and Walgreens <br />have enjoyed substantial increases in revenues and profits during the pandemic, <br />front-like workers who face the most significant risk from COVID-19 have not <br />1 <br />shared in this bounty. Long Beach, Seattle, and Santa Monica have already <br />Las Vegas <br />passed hazard-pay ordinances, and San Jose, Berkeley, Santa Ana, Los <br />1630CommerceStreet,SuiteA1 <br />LasVegas,NV89102 <br />1 <br /> See Molly Kinder, Laura Stateler and Julia Du, “Windfall profits and deadly <br />702.386.5107 <br />risks: How the biggest retail companies are compensating essential workers <br />Fax702.386.9848 <br />during the COVID-19 pandemic” B ROOKINGS I NSTITUTE (November 2020), at <br />https://www.brookings.edu/essay/windfall-profits-and-deadly-risks/. <br /> <br />