Court hearing set for Blue Springs cafe that defied Jackson County mask mandate
A Blue Springs cafe that, along with its owner, has defied Jackson County’s health order mandating masks be worn indoors at public spaces is getting its day in court.
A Jackson County judge has scheduled a 9 a.m. hearing Wednesday at the county courthouse in Independence to hear arguments in the county’s case against defendants Rae’s Cafe and its owner, Amanda Wohletz. At stake is whether the restaurant will be able to remain open.
The dispute centers around Jackson County’s current mask order that was reinstated in early August as the highly-contagious delta variant drove up cases and hospitalizations.
Over the following weeks, inspectors were sent to Rae’s Cafe after receiving complaints that it was disregarding the mandate. A warning was issued on Aug. 18. Citations were issued on Aug. 27 and 28. The cafe’s food permit was then revoked on Sept. 3.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed an amicus brief in support of Rae’s Cafe, contending that Rae’s Cafe and Rae’s Private Club are compliant with the mandate. He also contends that the county violated her rights to due process. In August, Schmitt sued Jackson County over its mask mandate, calling the requirement “ridiculous” and an “intrusion.”
Earlier this month, Jackson County officials sought a court order allowing it to permanently close the cafe, which is located in a strip center along Missouri 7 highway. Officials accused the cafe and Wohletz of “endangering the health, safety, and welfare of the community.”
Rae’s Cafe and Wohletz are openly and directly failing to comply with the order aimed to curb the spread of COVID-19 through the community, the lawsuit alleges. Without court intervention, the cafe will continue to operate with flagrant disregard for the rules, county leaders contend.
County officials were granted a temporary restraining order that prevented Wohletz from operating Rae’s Cafe. That order was modified last week to include the exception that it could be operated as permitted by the county’s health order, which exempts the mask requirement for those with disabilities where masks would be a substantial impairment to their health and well-being based on medical direction.
Wohletz previously, and in the new court filings, maintains that she is operating within the bounds of the law. All of her employees told her that “wearing masks caused them anxiety and mental stress and that these medical conditions prevented them from being able to work in a mask,” according to court documents.
She maintains that the mask mandate was “unconstitutionally created” and asked the court to determine that the county’s effort to enforce it is is unlawful, nonsensical and is intended only to punish those who speak out against arbitrary and capricious ‘mandates.’”
She also contends that Rae’s Cafe stopped operating on Sept. 3 and she converted it to a private members-only club, which is exempt from the health order.
She alleges that the Jackson County Health Department targeted her restaurant after she spoke out against the mask mandate and the county’s authority to issue such an order.
In a filing Tuesday, Rae’s Cafe and Wholetz seek their own order asking that the county be prevented from closing down Rae’s Cafe for reasons based on the mask mandate, withholding its food permit and continuing to issue citations for violating the health order.
