LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – The owner of a bar and nightclub in Ontario, California alleges a bill in the state violates its constitutional rights.
Ontario Food & Beverage LLC filed a complaint on April 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against Christine Baker, in her official capacity only as the director of the state of California Department of Industrial Relations, et al. seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that it will suffer monetary damages if the defendants are not enjoined from enforcing Assembly Bill 2509, which regards tips given to dancers. The plaintiff alleges AB 2509 is in conflict with the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and that it is "impossible" for it to comply with both AB 2509 and the requirements of other laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Internal Revenue Code.
"Because the validity and/or constitutionality of AB 2509 is open to significant question, and because plaintiff has the right to know how it is to comply with a variety of conflicting and irreconcilable laws, plaintiff is entitled to a declaration of both its rights and obligations, as well as the validity and interplay, of the laws at issue here," the suit states.
The plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, award of costs and attorney's fees. It is represented by Peter E. Garrell and John M. Kennedy of Garrell Law PC in Norco, California and Matthew Hoffer and Bradley Shafer of Shafer & Associates PC in Lansing, Michigan.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 5:18-cv-00753