The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has upheld the City of Berkeley’s living wage law in the face of a challenge to its constitutionality.1Berkeley’s law, enacted in 2000, requires certain city contractors and lessees to pay workers a minimum hourly wage a few dollars higher than state and federal minimums, plus health benefits. When the law was amended to cover businesses at the Berkeley Marina—which the original ordinance didn’t cover—the owner of Skates restaurant at the marina argued that the amendment violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause because it targeted certain businesses. The restaurant also unsuccessfully claimed that imposing the new living wage requirement unconstitutionally changed the terms of its lease with the city.