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A restaurant in Washington State will be forced to pay a $1 million fine for defying the state’s indoor-dining ban during the pandemic.
Washington’s Court of Appeals ruled that Stuffy’s II Restaurant in Longview owes $936,000 in penalties, at a rate of $18,000 for each of the 52 days in defied Governor Jay Inslee’s emergency order.
The three-judge panel ruled unanimously that the restaurant’s owners, Glenda and Bud Duling, had put their employees at serious risk from “a potentially deadly disease,” and they also rejected the Dulings’ argument that the fine was excessive.
“Such a harsh consequence may be warranted in light of the egregiousness of the violation,” the judges wrote.
Governor Inslee brought his indoor-dining ban into effect in November 2020, as cases of COVID-19 began to rise. The state’s Department of Labor and Industries issued new rules requiring all businesses to comply.
Stuffy’s II was fined $126,000 in January 2021 for continuing to offer indoor service and racked up even more fines as its owners refused to comply with the Governor’s order.
The restaurant has been closed since a fire at the beginning of the month.
In a message posted to social media after the fire, the owners said they were “committed to rebuilding, picking up the pieces, and coming back stronger than ever.”
In other COVID-related news, at the beginning of the month President Trump ordered federal agencies to delete all records associated with COVID-19 vaccination status, compliance with pandemic mandates or requests for vaccine exemptions.
The order to delete the records was announced by the Office of Personnel Management in a memo to all heads of federal departments and agencies. Departments will have 90 days to comply; although individuals can request to have their information kept on file if they wish.
The memo explains that the order is a response to a number of legal cases against the government and also the Trump administration’s goal of reversing harmful policies adopted by President Biden during the pandemic.
Agencies are now barred from using an employee’s vaccine history in any employment-related decision, from hiring to termination.
“Things got out of hand during the pandemic, and federal workers were fired, punished, or sidelined for simply making a personal medical decision,” OPM Director Scott Kupor said in a statement.
“That should never have happened.”
“Thanks to President Trumpʼs leadership, weʼre making sure the excesses of that era do not have lingering effects on federal workers.”
In September 2021, President Biden signed an order forcing all federal workers to take a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment.
By the time a federal judge blocked the mandate in January 2022, the administration said 98% of employees covered by the order had been vaccinated.
The order was finally rescinded in May 2023.
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