Sure enough, Supreme Court denies cert in ERISA case

The Supreme Court declined to review a case in which a restaurant owners group attempted to invalidate a San Francisco requirement that local businesses either offer health insurance benefits to their employees or pay the city a fee that is used to fund a program offering medical services to low-income restaurants. In Golden Gate Restaurant Ass’n v. City and County of San Francisco, the Court apparently agreed with a Justice Department brief that the long-running debate over whether ERISA preempts such pay-or-play programs has been effectively mooted by the new federal health reform law. No surprises.