Dallas City Attorney Responds to Paid Sick Leave Lawsuit, Wants New Judge in Case

Interim Dallas City Attorney Chris Caso wants a new federal judge to decide whether the paid sick leave ordinance is legal. Caso on Tuesday filed a motion to move the case from the Eastern District to the Northern District Court of Texas in Dallas — which would replace U.S. District Court Judge Amos Mazzant with another randomly selected judge. The filing Tuesday marked the city attorney's first public response to the lawsuit over the paid sick leave ordinance since two companies sued the city in federal court late July. After the city passed an ordinance in the spring requiring companies that have employees in Dallas to provide paid sick leave, the two Collin County-based companies filed suit to push to stop the ordinance, which was implemented Aug. 1. The Eastern District includes Collin County.Caso and assistant city attorneys on Tuesday also responded to the motion for a preliminary injunction and argued that the denial of sick leave to Dallas workers would cause more "irreparable injury" than any alleged harm to the companies that sued the city. Caso asked the judge for an extension to file a response to the main arguments in the complaint until Sept. 30."At this point, any temporary injunctive relief will only create confusion and could lead to a loss or suspension of accrued benefits for thousands of workers across the city," Caso wrote.  Continue reading...