Coffee shop refusing to close indoor dining argues case before Fayette County judge
The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department and a local coffee shop that has defied orders to close its indoor dining area argued their cases Monday in their first hearing before a judge.
The health department sued Brewed coffee shop and its owner, Andrew Cooperrider, last week when the business refused to comply with executive orders aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19. The health department filed a motion for an emergency injunction to force the business to stop serving food and beverages until it complies with an order to prohibit indoor dining.
After both sides made their arguments, Fayette County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Travis said that he would rule on the request for an emergency injunction soon.
A health department inspector, Karen Sanders, went to Brewed on Nov. 24 for a routine inspection, she testified Monday. She saw people eating and drinking in the indoor dining area, she said.
When Sanders approached Cooperrider, who was behind the counter, and told him that the business was violating executive orders by Gov. Andy Beshear prohibiting indoor dining, Cooperrider said that his partially opened garage door meant he was operating as an outdoor patio, Sanders said.
Sanders explained that an outdoor dining area could only be 50 percent walled in. While Sanders was talking to Cooperrider, a customer approached Sanders and questioned her, Sanders testified.
Cooperrider refused to comply, so Sanders went outside to call a supervisor and senior inspector, she said. She filled out an enforcement action form and then went back inside to talk to Cooperrider. Multiple customers started filming Sanders, so she asked to speak with Cooperrider in a more private part of the business.
Sanders explained a notice to correct mask violations and a warning citation, which did not include a fine, regarding the indoor dining, Sanders said. Cooperrider said he couldn’t ask his customers to wear masks and asked what would happen if he refused to sign the citation.
Cooperrider also refused to close the indoor dining and said he’d called his attorney, Sanders said.
Sanders’ senior inspector, Skip Castleman, drove out to Brewed to help Sanders. Sanders and Castleman spoke again with Cooperrider, Sanders testified. Castleman explained that Brewed could stay open for outdoor dining, takeout and delivery, but if the business did not comply in closing indoor dining, it would be shut down.
Cooperrider again refused to comply, so Sanders and Castleman completed the paperwork to, as far as the health department is concerned, close the business, Sanders said. The two went back inside to serve the papers, and when they tried to leave, 15 to 20 people followed them out, loudly asking questions and filming them, Sanders and Castleman said.
At some point, Cooperrider got in Castleman’s “personal space” and began cursing at him, Sanders and Castleman testified.
Sanders and Castleman were able to leave the business, but Castleman said the reaction from patrons was unusual and that it was “looking a little ugly for a while.”
The business did not close.
Business says every day it operates is a ‘victory’
Cooperrider’s attorney, Chris Wiest, argued during Monday’s hearing that the health department did not inquire whether the people inside the business who were not wearing masks could’ve been exempt from the mask order. Wiest also argued that since COVID-19 orders surrounding businesses lack clarity, Brewed should be able to take advantage of less restrictive rules set out for a venue rather than a restaurant since it acts as both.
The attorney for the health department, Jason Ams, argued that it was clear that Brewed was operating as a restaurant or dining facility when the inspector went in the business.
Wiest told the judge that his client would suffer “irreparable harm” by shutting down indoor dining, and Ams argued that Cooperrider was making things worse for himself by risking total closure instead of using the permitted methods of operating.
Travis asked Ams why businesses classified as “venues” can have up to 25 people in indoor spaces while restaurants cannot have indoor service. Ams said that, while it is a state order and not an order by the health department, his understanding is that masks can’t be worn by people who are eating or drinking.
It is not uncommon for a judge to issue an order on a motion after a hearing is over, but Brewed celebrated the lack of a decision from Travis on its Facebook page after the hearing Monday.
“Every day we operate is a victory for Liberty,” the business said in the post.
If the court grants the health department’s injunction, Brewed will not operate as a restaurant unless it complies with executive orders. However, as Travis put it, the doors of the business would not be locked — the space could still be used as a venue. But it would not be permitted to serve food or drink.
Also noted during the hearing is that the lawsuit’s issues will be irrelevant if the governor’s executive orders expire after Dec. 13.
Cooperrider’s business has turned the conflict with the health department into a rallying point for people who disagree with COVID-19 restrictions. A post on the Brewed Facebook page on Nov. 24, the day it was ordered to close, was shared more than 700 times.
“The worst that could happen is we close ... I go to jail for a bit,” Cooperrider told the Herald-Leader last week. “What am I facing now, locked up inside my house with losing my businesses. ... I have more to gain by resisting than I do to comply.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 6:11 PM.
