Restaurant to continue indoor dining despite order over COVID rules, WA owner says

After racking up almost $145,000 in fines, a restaurant in Washington has been hit with a temporary restraining order for offering indoor dining in defiance of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, according to court documents.

The restraining order was served to Spiffy’s, a Chehalis diner, on Monday, Tim Church, a spokesman for the Department of Labor and Industries, told McClatchy News. It states that if the restaurant continues to ignore the restrictions, it could face criminal charges, according to Lewis County Superior Court.

But owner Rod Samuelson says that’s not going to stop the restaurant from offering indoor seating, he told McClatchy News in a message.

When asked if he plans to comply with the order, Samuelson said: “Of course we will comply regarding being in court at a set time.” But until then, he still plans on offering indoor dining, he told McClatchy.

Rob Grant, the restaurant’s general manager, posted a video on Spiffy’s Facebook page, stating that the business plans to push back in court.

“We’re fighting for our constitutional rights here and we would like you all to please stand with us,” Grant said. “We are definitely fighting this thing.”

Violating the order could result in a “gross misdemeanor, and upon conviction, could be punished with a fine of not more than [$10,000] or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both,” documents state.

“Violation of the (o)rder may also subject the violator to Contempt of Court,” according to the documents.

The restaurant is scheduled to appear in court by phone on Dec. 29 to “show cause, if any, why the [temporary restraining order] should not be continued in full force,” documents say.

Fines and previous order

The Department of Labor and Industries had issued Spiffy’s an order of immediate restraint, on Dec. 7, which “required the employer to immediately cease the business activity of indoor dine-in service and to comply with [Gov.] Jay Inslee’s COVID proclamations,” documents state. After the order was issued, the department noted that Spiffy’s continued to offer indoor dining on Dec. 7, 9, 11, 14 and 15, according to court documents.

Church previously told McClatchy Newsthat Spiffy’s would be fined every day it continued to offer indoor dining.

“Spiffy’s is facing two groups of citations and fines,” Church said. “The first one was on Dec. 7 for $67,473 and the second one was on Dec. 16 and the fine was $77,112.”

Because Spiffy’s violated the department’s order, the authority now moves to Lewis County Superior Court, which issued the restaurant a temporary restraining order on Dec. 18.

Washington prohibits indoor dining

Gov. Jay Inslee prohibited restaurants from offering indoor dining in a guidance that went into effect on Nov. 18, McClatchy News previously reported. The guidance, which will remain in place until Jan. 4, prohibits people who don’t live together from having social gatherings indoors unless “they quarantine for 14 days prior to the social gathering or quarantine for seven days prior … and received a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 48-hours prior to the gathering,” according to the governor’s website.

Restaurants, however, can’t operate indoor dining services under those terms, the guidance says, and there are strict rules for them to follow if they offer outdoor dining.

Restaurants forced to comply

Another restaurant in south Thurston County has defied the restaurant and bar restrictions as well.

Brian Robbins, owner of the Farm Boy Drive-In, told McClatchy that opening indoor dining has nothing to do with politics, but is a matter of “pure survival.”

“I’ve got 10 employees that rely on their paychecks,” Robbins said. “Just because Inslee says that they’re non-essential, that’s not right. Every single person’s paycheck is essential … What makes him think that he can determine who is essential and who is not?”

The Farm Boy was issued a restraining order by Thurston County Superior Court last week, McClatchy previously reported. Church told McClatchy the restaurant appeared to still be offering indoor dining as of this weekend.

It is scheduled to appear at a hearing by phone on Tuesday.

The first restaurant to get a restraining order due to COVID-19 restriction violations was the Fairway Cafe in Lynden, which went back to offering only takeout after the Whatcom County Superior Court judge issued the order, McClatchy previously reported.

“We are living in very interesting times. Small businesses are taking hits left and right while the big box stores make billions of dollars,” Fairway Cafe said in a Dec. 3 Facebook post. “ALL people trying to earn a living to support their families are essential. ALL businesses providing a service to their communities and a reliable income to their employees are essential.”

COVID-19 in Washington

The Washington State Department of Health reported 226,635 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,106 deaths as of Dec. 22..

This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 1:42 PM with the headline "Restaurant to continue indoor dining despite order over COVID rules, WA owner says."