Judge orders Blue Springs cafe to close after it continuously defied mask mandate

The Blue Springs restaurant that has defied Jackson County’s health order mandating masks has been ordered to cease operations.

Jackson County officials won a victory in court Thursday when a judge ruled in the county’s favor over Rae’s Cafe and its owner, Amanda Wohletz.

In her ruling, Judge Jennifer Phillips granted the county’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction and barred Wohletz and Rae’s Cafe from operating in violation of the health order. Phillips further ordered Rae’s Cafe to cease operations until it obtained a valid food permit.

Phillips found that the health order was lawfully created and enforced. Despite warnings, citations, the revocation of the food permit, and the Jackson County Health Department ordering the closure of the restaurant, Wohletz continued to operate the restaurant.

The court found the private club and medical exemptions as argued by the defendant do not provide a sufficient defense.

The dispute centers on Jackson County’s current mask order that was reinstated in early August as the highly contagious coronavirus delta variant drove up cases and hospitalizations.

“Compliance with the Health Order bears a real and substantial relation to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Phillips wrote in her ruling. “Refusal to comply with the Health Order endangers the health, safety, and welfare of the community of Jackson County, Missouri, and its surrounding areas.”

Enforcement of the mandate

Enforcement of the Jackson County health order is the responsibility of the administrator of Jackson County Environmental Health and addressing issues of non-compliance with regard to food service establishments is granted under county law, the court ruled.

The ruling says Jackson County Health Department Director Bridgette Shaffer “is vested with the powers to use the legal means necessary” to control or investigate threats to public health.

In its ruling, the court also found that Rae’s Cafe “continued to openly operate in violation” of the existing health order.

The order required everyone ages 5 and up to wear a face covering when visiting indoor public spaces, with some exceptions, including medical exemptions or removing the masks while dining. Jackson County legislators voted 6-3 on Aug. 30 to extend the health order until Oct. 7.

The restrictions applied only to rural parts of the county and cities other than Kansas City and Independence, which have their own health departments that set the rules.

Shortly after Jackson County’s went into effect, the county received complaints that Rae’s Cafe, located in a strip center along Missouri 7 highway, was not complying with the mandate.

The cafe, according to media reports, had posted on a chalkboard in August:

“Rae’s Cafe is NOT honoring the mask requirement and does NOT require staff to either. If you have a problem with our decision, stay home.”

Inspectors were sent to check and issued a warning on Aug. 18. Tickets were issued on Aug. 27 and 28. The Jackson County Environmental Health revoked the cafe’s food permit and ordered it closed on Sept. 3.

The restaurant didn’t.

“Defendants’ continued operation in violation of the Health Order increases the risk of transmission of COVID-19 and its variants in the community,” Phillips ruled. “This is immediate and irreparable harm. Additionally, there is no adequate remedy at law to address the COVID-19 public health crisis.”

A business is not permitted to engage in conduct that endangers the well-being of the state, Phillips wrote.

Rae’s claims exemptions

Deborah Sees, director of Jackson County Environmental Health, testified at the hearing Wednesday that prior to the recent actions, the county had a good working relationship with Rae’s Cafe and that under the previous health order the restaurant had complied with the mandate.

Sees testified that Wohletz initially told her that the reasons they weren’t complying with the current order were because the kitchen was too hot, it was too inconvenient and she would lose customers. The first time the medical exemption came up was when the food permit was revoked, Sees said.

After Rae’s Cafe remained open, the Jackson County Health Department issued an order for it to close on Sept. 9 and the following day Jackson County filed a petition seeking a court order to permanently close.

Although the restaurant briefly closed, it opened back up the following week.

Wohletz has maintained that she is operating within the bounds of the law. In court filings, she contends that 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.”

Included in the filings are copies of cards claiming that the person bearing the card is exempt from wearing a face mask due to medical reasons. The county pointed out the cards can be readily purchased online.

In a counterpetition against the county, Rae’s Cafe and Wohletz contends the mandate was “unconstitutionally created” and the county’s effort to enforce the mandate “is unlawful, nonsensical and is intended only to punish those who speak out against arbitrary and capricious ‘mandates.’”

Wohletz also contends that she stopped operating Rae’s Cafe on Sept. 3 and converted the restaurant space to a private members-only club known as Rae’s Private Club. Private clubs are exempt from the health order.

The court ruled arguments made by the restaurant to operate as a private club were not compelling.

Regardless, the ruling says, the designation of being a private club would not eliminate the requirements of serving food, which requires a valid permit.

John Reeves, the attorney for the cafe, declined to comment on the court’s decision.

The Star’s Glenn E. Rice and Aaron Torres contributed reporting.