Governor Gavin Newsom is being sued by more than 50 dine-in restaurants and wineries due to his ban on in-person dining due to coronvirus restrictions.
American business owners living in the Bay area are fed up, citing the uneven application of restrictions, which violate California’s equal protecton laws.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday and alleges that Newsom and the state public health department have failed to provide scientific evidence showing that outdoor dining is more dangerous than other activities currently allowed.
Governor Newsom’s problems continue to mount, as he is widely unpopular in his own state.
Over 1.1 million Californians have already signed a petition calling for Newsom to be removed as governor.
For more on the lawsuit, here's Fox News:
A group of California wineries and restaurants sued Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state public health officer this week in an effort to overturn the state’s ban on outdoor dining and wine tasting.
The Wine Country Coalition for Safe Reopening, a group of more than 50 businesses in Napa and Sonoma counties, alleged in the lawsuit that California’s ban "is arbitrary, irrational and unfair," and that it has hurt local businesses and thousands of workers who lost their jobs.
California added new COVID-19 restrictions in early December amid rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The state hit a high of more than 45,000 new cases reported in Dec. 18, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The restaurants and wineries bringing the new case against the state said they were unfairly targeted without scientific evidence while other indoor businesses like retailers were allowed to continue operating "with little regulation."
If state officials had assessed data on outdoor dining or wine tasting, "they would have found no scientific evidence indicating that when conducted with protective measures, it contributes to the spread of COVID at all," the lawsuit alleges. "To the contrary, a growing body of scientific literature indicates the opposite."
Carl Dene of Sam’s General Store, a member of the Wine Country Coalition, said that the business owners do support the state’s efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, noting that they have "collectively invested millions of dollars to operate safely for our customers and employees."
"All we ask is to be treated fairly and in accordance with the science," Dene said in a written statement. "Though the data shows we can operate outdoors safely, our state officials continue to shut us down while trusting big-box retail stores to operate in much riskier indoor settings."
Newsom has tried to deflect criticism by appearing to honor the lives lost from Covid-19, rather than help Californians who are currently struggling to keep food on the table.
Newsom is losing support fast in California..
The owner of the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill is just one of the many owners suing Newsom.
The Daily Caller has more on that:
A restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California, is suing Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California officials over the state’s decision to close restaurants to combat coronavirus, Fox News reported.
The Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill filed its lawsuit against the governor Sunday, alleging that the coronavirus mitigation policies pursued by the state are detached from the science and overly broad, according to Fox News. The lawsuit also claims Newsom has abused his authority as governor by allowing unelected public health officials to dictate policy regarding without input from the state legislature, Fox News reported.
“Defendants, in a gross abuse of their power, have seized the Coronavirus pandemic to expand their authority by unprecedented lengths, depriving Plaintiff and all other similarly situated small business owners in California of fundamental rights protected by the U.S. and California Constitutions,” the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill’s complaint claims, as reported by Fox News. (RELATED: Los Angeles Restaurant Owners Protest Outdoor Dining Ban)
Newsom’s new coronavirus lockdown criterion based on the number of ICU beds available in designated regions of the state shut down indoor and outdoor dining, according to covid19.ca.gov. Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill, located in the Southern California region, has been unable to serve customers since the lockdowns kicked in Dec. 6.
Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill became prominent after its owner, Angela Marsden, appeared in a viral video that showed her restaurant would be closed for outdoor dining, but that large tables and tents were set up for the production of a television show in the same parking lot as her outdoor dining patio. This gave Marsden the impetus to contest public health officials’ orders that she finds arbitrary and hypocritical.
“This is dangerous. Mayor Garcetti and Gavin Newsom is responsible for every single person that doesn’t have unemployment,” Marsden said in the widely-shared video. “All the businesses that are going under, we need your help, we need something to do something about this,” she added.
Newsom's days as governor of California may be numbered.
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