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Yesterday on 1851 Franchise, we wrote about the Seattle minimum wage law challenge being rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court. In response to that decision, the International Franchise Association (IFA) issued a statement expressing disappointment as it continues to advocate on behalf of the 600 local franchise business owners that employ 19,000 people across Seattle.

In the statement, the IFA claims that it and five Seattle franchisees sued the city of Seattle in June 2014, seeking to block portions of the city’s new law to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. At the heart of the IFA’s argument was the idea that the city of Seattle was treating franchises unfairly by automatically assuming they were part of their larger franchisor structure rather than the small, locally-owned businesses that they are.

Robert Cresanti, IFA president and CEO, had this to say in the IFA Statement. “Today’s decision from the Supreme Court is clearly a disappointment as our appeal has always focused solely on the discriminatory treatment of franchisees under Seattle’s wage law and the motivation to discriminate against interstate commerce,” said Cresanti. “Seattle’s ordinance is blatantly discriminatory and affirmatively harms Seattle hard-working franchise small business owners every day since it has gone into effect. We are simply attempting to level the playing field for the 600 local franchise business owners employing 19,000 people in Seattle.”

Seattle’s new law required large businesses (defined as those with more than 500 employees) to raise the minimum wage to $15 over three years beginning in April 2015. Smaller businesses will have seven years to phase in the wage increase.

To read the entire IFA Statement, click here.

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Nick Powills

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Nick Powills

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Nick Powills, CFE, founded No Limit Agency in 2008 and serves as Chief Brand Strategist for the Chicago-based firm. No Limit is a full-service communications agency that establishes and elevates brands by bridging Public Relations, Social Media, Marketing, Advertising, Digital, and a lot of creativity, to best strategize well-rounded and successful campaigns for 50+ global franchise brands. By presenting visionary ideas and building real relationships, No Limit is able to create effective media branding strategies to help companies grow. Nick currently leads a staff of writers, media strategists, designers, social media experts and digital producers in an office think-tank where brands are humanized for strong, compelling media stories. Prior to starting No Limit at the age of 27, Nick spent four years working at a franchise PR agency where he mastered the art of building rapport with media outlets and creating newsworthy pitches for earned media placements. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism from Drake University in Iowa.

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