Cal. Div. of Labor Stds. Enforcement v. Dillingham Constr.

In Cal. Div. of Labor Stds. Enforcement v. Dillingham Constr., 519 U.S. 316 (1997), the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the scope of ERISA preemption. In an opinion written by Justice Thomas, the Court held that:

“

The State of California requires a contractor on a public works project to pay its workers the prevailing wage in the project's locale. An exception to this requirement permits a contractor to pay a lower wage to workers participating in an approved apprenticeship program. This case presents the question whether the pre-emption provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 829, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., supersedes California's prevailing wage law to the extent that the law prohibits payment of an apprentice wage to an apprentice trained in an unapproved program. We conclude that California's law does not "relate to" employee benefit plans, and thus is not pre-empted.

”

Id. at 319.