A federal appeals court has reversed part of the order that dismissed the case of Birmingham's minimum wage increase.

In a published opinion issued Wednesday, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on the case and sent part of the lawsuit back to district court.

An attorney for several fast-food workers, black lawmakers, and civil rights groups argued to a three-judge panel from the appeals court in April to reinstate their lawsuit challenging a state law that blocked a minimum wage increase in Birmingham. Their lawsuit makes several claims, including that the state law is racially discriminatory and violates equal protection.

The defendants named in the lawsuit are the governor, the Alabama Attorney General's office, and the city of Birmingham.

Last year, U.S. District Judge David Proctor dismissed the case, writing there were "fatal flaws" in the plaintiffs' reasoning. The plaintiffs appealed Proctor's decision.

The appeals court said in its opinion that they were both affirming part and reversing part of the district court's ruling. While the appeals court partially agreed with Proctor's ruling, the court said one of the claims shouldn't have been dismissed. "The plaintiffs have stated a plausible claim that the Minimum Wage Act had the purpose and effect of depriving Birmingham's black citizens equal economic opportunities on the basis of race, in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment," the opinion said.

"Accordingly, we reverse the dismissal of that claim against the Attorney General of Alabama. We affirm the dismissal of all other claims and all other defendants," the opinion continued.

In 2016, the Alabama Legislature passed a law blocking cities from setting their own minimum wages-- just in time to block the Birmingham City Council's decision to set a minimum wage of $10.10 an hour. The Legislative Black Caucus, which is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, opposed the bill and filed the suit.

Birmingham would have been the first city in the state to set its own minimum wage. Alabama does not have a state minimum wage, so employers follow the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, last raised in 2009.

Christine Owens, the executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said the appeals court "refused to give state legislatures a pass when their dominant white majorities use their power to undermine local democracy and discriminate against African Americans and people of color attempting to build a better and more just future through their local governments."

She said Birmingham's 2015 decision to enact a minimum wage ordinance was a historic victory for black workers in the city. "However, the Alabama state legislators and former governor who swiftly nullified that victory through a state law banning Birmingham's and all future local minimum wage laws revealed the lengths that some white majorities will go to try and deny communities of color the path forward that they attempt to pave themselves," she said.

"But now, the Eleventh Circuit has re-opened the courthouse door, holding that although the plaintiffs may not ultimately prevail on their claims of intentional discrimination, the constitution demands that they have 'the right to try'... The court's decision should put state legislators around the country on notice. Workers, communities of color, advocates, and our courts will not stand by and allow the seemingly-neutral politics of 'preemption' to deny local communities the very basic right to use their local democratic process to craft local solutions that address their local concerns."

Appeals Ruling On Minimum Wage by Ivana Hrynkiw on Scribd