The Minnesota Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a Minneapolis ordinance that implemented a minimum wage increase plan for companies.

The suit was initiated by the Graco Company, claiming that the ordinance violated Minnesota state law by requiring a higher minimum wage in a specific city. However, the court determined that the overarching state law only set a minimum state-wide, and did not prohibit a city from increasing their own minimum wage limit.

The ordinance, passed in 2017, specifically sought to increase minimum wage for employees in Minneapolis to $15 per hour over time. Companies with less than 100 employees have seven years to bring their employees up to this standard. Currently enforced, the minimum wage for larger employers is mandated at $9.86 per hour, expected to continue rising each year until reaching the $15 mark.

In their compliant, the Graco Company noted the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, which requires a lower minimum wage than Minneapolis’ rule. They argued that the broader state law preempted the city law and therefore Minneapolis’ ordinance should be struck down.

Judge Renee Worke of the Minnesota Court of Appeals wrote the opinion, stating that the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act did not prohibit a city from requiring a higher minimum wage. Instead, the act only prohibits a city from paying employees less. While acknowledging that minimum wage regulation is usually undertaken by a state’s government, there is no evidence to support that a city may not implement local regulations.

Additionally, Worke compared the state-city law relationship to that of a federal-state one. The federal minimum wage regulation only sets a minimum limit that states have to meet and states are free to implement further standards to raise requirements.

The decision was 5-4, and is expected to move to the Minnesota Supreme Court.