KANSAS CITY (AP) — A judge has ordered a suburban Kansas City restaurant to close temporarily because the owner repeatedly refused to follow a mask mandate.
Jackson County Judge James Kanatazar on Friday granted the county's request for a temporary restraining order against Rae's Cafe in Blue Springs.
The county also filed a motion seeking to permanently prevent the owner from operating in violation of the health order.
Before the judge's ruling, Jackson County health officials and sheriff's deputies served the cafe owner, Amanda Wohletz, with an order to close because the mask mandate was being ignored. But the business continued to operate Friday morning.
Rae’s Cafe's food permit was suspended last week. The owner then reopened as a private club, which charges customers $1 to join and prohibits masks.
Jackson County said in a statement it would “take the necessary steps to ensure the health order is enforced.”
Wohletz has said she and all her workers are medically exempt from the mask mandate but has not explained what medical conditions they have, The Kansas City Star reported.
The county said Rae's Cafe is the first business it has tried to close for not following county requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.