A federal appeals court handed down a big win for equal pay advocates by ruling that a Philadelphia ordinance that prohibits employers from asking job candidates about wage history is not unconstitutional.

The precedential ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Feb. 6 reverses a lower court’s holding that the portion of the ordinance banning salary history questions violated employers’ First Amendment rights. The appeals court also upheld the lower court’s ruling that employers can’t rely on salary history in setting wages.