As I wrote yesterday, the state Supreme Court has ruled that SeaTac’s Proposition 1, which increased the minimum wage for certain workers (among other things), is applicable to workers at Sea-Tac airport. The measure went into effect Jan. 1, 2014. Does the ruling apply retroactively?

The Seattle Times reports that the answer to that is “unclear at this point”. Indeed, the ruling doesn’t mention it one way or the other. There are many opinions:

[Dmitri] Iglitzin, the attorney for SeaTac Committee for Good Jobs, said Thursday he thinks the law is clear that, because of the Supreme Court decision, workers at the airport making less than $15 as of Jan. 1, 2014, are entitled to that back pay, plus interest. . . .

Heather Weiner, a spokeswoman for the committee, acknowledged that it may take a lawsuit to get employers to pay the retroactive wages. . . .

Charlotte Garden, a professor at Seattle University’s School of Law who specializes in labor law, said she expects the pay bump to be retroactive.

“Workers may have to file suit to recover the pay they would have received while this lawsuit was pending,” she said. “However, employers may also decide that more litigation is not worth it, particularly because Prop. 1 requires courts to award attorneys’ fees to successful plaintiffs.”

On the other hand, state Sen. Karen Keiser said,

The one disappointment is that the court’s ruling was not retroactive, which means employees may not receive back wages. I have already begun researching legislation for the 2016 session to make those raises retroactive to make sure those employees receive the back pay they were wrongly denied.

Meanwhile, Opportunity Washington had a good post yesterday on the ruling and the effects of wage increases.