Summit Client Wins Grocery Industry Challenge to $5 per hour Hazard Pay

A federal judge has dismissed a grocery industry challenge to City of Burien’s $5 per hour hazard pay for grocery store workers. The ruling is a big win for Summit client City of Burien and the low-wage frontline workers who have been working throughout the pandemic.

The hazard pay ordinance, which applies to grocery businesses with 250 or more employees worldwide, requires grocery workers be paid an extra $5 an hour during the pandemic. 

"The City of Burien is pleased that Judge Coughenour upheld its hazard pay ordinance that protects and supports Burien's essential and hardworking grocery store workers during a pandemic while the large grocers have earned record profits," said litigation attorney Jessica Goldman. The Summit Law Group team also included John Lee, Jesse Taylor, Karen Lang, and Sharon Hendricks.

Read more about the case in the Law360 article, “Wash. City's Virus Hazard Pay Law Survives Grocers' Suit.”