A Washington state restaurant that resumed indoor dining in violation of a 2020 state COVID-19 pandemic order must pay a fine of more than $900,000, an appeals court has ruled.
State officials fined the owners of Stuffy’s II Restaurant $936,000 in total—$18,000 for each day its dining room was open while the state’s emergency order banning indoor dining was in place.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee imposed the ban in late 2020 after there was a jump in cases and hospitalizations attributed to COVID-19.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries levied the fine after Stuffy’s opened, based on the ban.
The owners, Bud and Glenda Duling, called the fine unconstitutionally excessive since minimal harm was done. They said they could not pay the amount….