El Dorado County restaurants defy closure orders after employees didn’t wear masks
El Dorado County officials have suspended the health permits of two restaurants for failing to require employees to wear masks to protect against COVID-19. Both restaurants, however, have remained open in defiance of the county.
County spokeswoman Carla Hass said environmental health code officers served notice to the Apple Bistro in Placerville and the Cafe El Dorado on Pleasant Valley Road in the rural community of El Dorado on Friday, a move the county says legally requires the restaurants to close until they return to compliance.
Hass said the county had received numerous complaints about both restaurants, notably that employees were not wearing masks. The county board of supervisors gave health officials the go-ahead last month to suspend permits of businesses that flagrantly defy the state order requiring mask-wearing indoors in businesses.
Officials said they issued earlier warnings to the two restaurants, and talked with them about what to do to come into compliance.
Apple Bistro owner Jeannette Waldow, speaking to The Sacramento Bee on Monday, said she rejects the notion that the state and the county have legal jurisdiction to require her employees to wear masks. She has retained an attorney, Rick Martin, who told The Bee he has filed suit against the state. He called the state’s mask order “domestic terrorism.”
An employee of Cafe El Dorado said the restaurant’s owner was not available for comment on Monday, but said the owner would be available for comment on Tuesday.
County officials called the permit revocations a “last resort” to protect the health of workers and patrons.
“We had multiple conversations and visits with both of them, expressing how they can come into compliance with the emergency order,” county spokeswoman Hass said. “The message here is that El Dorado County is taking this seriously and wants to work with businesses in any way possible to help them stay open.”
Hass said the county can fine the restaurants up to $500 each day that they remain open without a health permit.
Speaking at a noon press conference on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked what he called the “vast majority” of state businesses who, he says, are “doing their best” to comply with mask-rules “under trying and difficult experiences.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 12:10 PM.