A small group of independent restaurant operators in New York City have filed a lawsuit that challenges the legality of the city’s vaccination mandate for restaurant guests and staff, the first of its kind in the nation.
The action, brought by a group called the Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue (IROAR), asks the State Supreme Court in the county of Richmond to overturn a requirement that restaurants deny entry to anyone who has not received at least one inoculation shot. Establishments are essentially obliged to screen their clienteles and staff by demanding to see proof of vaccination.
The mandate went into effect Tuesday, a day after Mayor de Blasio issued an executive order imposing the proof-of-vaccination requirement. ROAR’s suit alleges that the mayor’s action was arbitrary because it imposes a burden exclusively on restaurants, gyms and entertainment facilities, not on every public business where someone could contract coronavirus.
“What makes these particular establishments so dangerous? Nothing,” the suit alleges.
It cites a December 2020 finding by the governor’s office that only 1.4% of COVID-19 cases in New York state were the result of someone contracting coronavirus in a restaurant. In contrast, it says, the state found that 74% of infections began in a private home.
The legal challenge also asks that New York City be permanently blocked from imposing a vaccine mandate because the requirement is unfair to individuals who cannot “or should not” get the required shot. It argues that civic officials failed to address the rights of those residents or visitors by making exemptions or setting alternatives.
De Blasio and the City of New York are named as the defendants in the action. There has been no official reaction since the lawsuit was filed on Tuesday.
The action will likely be closely watched by operators and industry officials elsewhere as local governments evaluate ways of flattening a surge in COVID infections, the result of the delta variant sweeping through the population. Chicago and the state of Washington, among a number of other jurisdictions, have reimposed mask mandates rather than requiring restaurant guests and staff be vaccinated.
But San Francisco and New Orleans have already set their own proof-of-vaccination mandates, and Los Angeles County is expected to announce a requirement in the next few weeks.
The Biden administration has said it will not impose any sort of federal vaccine mandate, but the president and other officials have called on private businesses to adopt their own requirements.
The restaurants participating in the case include Evolve-33, Max’s Esca and Pasticceria Rocco. The operations are located in the New York City borough of Staten Island, which is also home to Richmond County.
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