APRIL 22, 2022, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A15
Dozens of companies that defied
COVID mandates are fighting nearly $1 million in fines
Over the past two years, Oregon workplace safety officials were deluged with
complaints, and they cited an unprecedented number of violators.
BY LYNNE TERRY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
Though most pandemic restrictions in Oregon
are gone, several dozen businesses cited by state
safety officials for violating Covid mandates still owe
hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines to the state.
More than 200 companies were fined between
March 2020 and March 2022 for violating state
mask, capacity, physical distancing and closure
mandates. The Oregon Occupational Safety and
Health Division levied nearly $1 million total in fines.
A majority of the companies, most of them fined
a few hundred dollars, have paid.
But nearly 40 companies, including some that
were cited more than once, that were accused of will-
ful violations have appealed, according to the latest
data released to the Capital Chronicle by OSHA.
The appeals of companies with some of the big-
gest fines claim that OSHA overstepped its author-
ity and that the mandates were unconstitutional.
The appeals are still underway and continue to take
up state time, but work at OSHA is moving towards
a normal pace of about 2,000 complaints a year.
Five largest fines:
Capitol Racquet Sports in Salem area, 5 citations:
$216,749
Kevista Coffee in Bend, 3 citations: $116,470
Along Came Trudy restaurant in Springfield, 2
citations: $51,740
Alsea School District, 1 citation: $43,000
Casey’s Restaurant in Klamath Falls, 2 citations:
$36,560
During the pandemic, the agency received more
than 31,000 complaints about Covid violations.
“We worked as hard as we could on this. There
was a lot to handle,” said Aaron Corvin, the depart-
ment’s spokesman. “We had to make some adjust-
ments. There’s just no getting around it.”
Some overtime was required, and the depart-
ment hired temporary workers. Sometimes officials
faced angry owners and in one instance an armed
threat.
“No one was assaulted,” Corvin said. “We did
have protesters show up at the house of one of our
staff who conducted an inspection and had protest-
ers show up at the home of the former administrator
– Michael Wood.”
The department also faced online threats, mostly
on Facebook.
“There was quite a bit of that,” Corvin remarked.
The agency gave compliance officers de-esca-
lation training to help them defuse tense situations.
Corvin said OSHA followed up on each com-
plaint and tried to get violations rectified quickly
with a phone call.
“If we could get things straightened out this way,
then that is what we did,” Corvin said.
Though the mandates were widely publicized,
Corvin said owners were sometimes confused about
the requirements. The state ordered temporary clo-
sures and later restricted indoor capacity in counties
with soaring cases to stem transmission of the virus.
The agency had never faced such a changing
situation.
“We instituted requirements, and it evolved over
time,” Corvin said. “We passed one of the few emer-
gency rules in the nation, and we extended it over
time.”
The rule, adopted in December 2020, specified
physical distancing, mask and sign requirements for
a range of businesses, including restaurants, stores
and and gyms.
Officials levied the largest fines on owners who
openly defied the mandates. OSHA usually issues
less than a handful of willful citations a year. Over
two years, that number increased tenfold.Usually,
companies try to avoid getting a willful citation on
their record, Corvin said. They give companies a bad
reputation and can increase worker compensation
rates.
“Not only are our penalties intended to affect the
future behavior of the employer, but also it creates a
potential deterrent effect,” Corvin said.
With so many complaints, OSHA inspected less
than 10%, carrying out about 2,600 inspections since
March 2020.
“If we had the sense in the process that the
employer wasn’t engaging in good faith or was
refusing to talk to us or was refusing to work through
this, then that would increase the likelihood of an
inspection,” Corvin said.
Even then, some companies were defiant.
Companies cited more than once
OSHA cited businesses in half of Oregon’s 36
counties. Few citations were directed at businesses
on the coast or in largely urban counties. For exam-
ple, only six businesses in the Portland area were
cited for willful violations. A majority were filed in
largely rural counties, including Crook, Deschutes,
Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lake, Polk and Wasco,
where anger against restrictions grew as the pan-
demic persisted.
“The pandemic created this unique environment
where there were super strong feelings,” Corvin said.
Some business owners doubted the virus posed
a significant threat. Others disagreed with OSHA
requirements.
When inspectors visited Kevista Coffee in Bend
in June 2020, five months after they had opened,
owners Kevin and Krista Lauinger told them they
would not comply with the restrictions, according to
OSHA records.
“Kevin explained that through research, he found
that face coverings were ineffective to prevent expo-
sure to Covid-19 and that he believed that wearing
face coverings for extended amounts of time could
harm his employees,” the inspection report said.
In a written response to OSHA in May 2021, the
Lauingers said several employees had submitted
“medical exemptions” to explain why they were
maskless.
The state allowed medical exemptions in
response to vaccine mandates, but not for masks.
Last May, Sandy’s mayor, Stan Pulliam, a Republican
candidate for governor, visited the coffee shop.
OSHA noted the visit in its files with photos from
social media or elsewhere that showed maskless
people in the coffee shop, hands over hearts, reciting
the Pledge of Allegiance.
OSHA cited the Lauingers three times for mask
violations, allowing customers to eat and drink
inside, lacking an infection control plan and fail-
ing to conduct a risk assessment. Their total fine:
$116,470, the second highest.
They did not respond to requests from the
Capital Chronicle for comment.
Capitol Racquet Sports, which operates five
gyms in the Salem area under the name Courthouse
Club Fitness, faces the highest total fine: nearly
$217,000 for failing to close and violating red warn-
ing signs posted at the gyms. The required state
sign says the business is an “unsafe place of employ-
ment” and should be avoided.
On Nov. 17, 2020, owner John Miller wrote to
members, explaining his decision to keep the fit-
ness centers open: “As a result of the harm done
to our business from the first shutdown, we will
not survive another closure. This is a horrible posi-
tion I find myself (in), and it leaves with only one
choice. Courthouse Club Fitness will remain open
Wednesday and the days to follow.”
In an appeal, attorney Tyler Malstrom told
OSHA its orders were “unlawful and unconstitu-
tional” and usurped the Oregon Legislature. He
said no cases of Covid had been traced to the busi-
ness and called the requirements “arbitrary and
capricious.”
Malstrom declined to comment to the Capital
Chronicle.
More than a year later, the fine remains unpaid
and the appeals process is ongoing.
OSHA encountered one of the most aggres-
sive responses during inspections at Along Comes
Trudy, a restaurant in Springfield, Corvin said.
When inspectors turned up on March 1, 2021, they
found a sign on the door stating “No Trespassing to
Government and State Officials.”
People were standing outside guarding the
restaurant, according to an Oregon OSHA report
They wore pistols on their hips, and one person was
armed with a sword.
“These people had made threats to other regu-
latory agencies saying if anyone tried to shut down
Trudy, they would crack some skulls open,” the
report said.
The inspectors left.
Trudy Logan, who owns the restaurant, told
the Capital Chronicle that the restrictions were
“unconstitutional.”
“We have a right to take care of ourselves,”
Logan said. “When is it a sin to go to work? I was not
holding anybody’s feet to the fire to come in here.”
She also said she had no choice but to stay open.
Her husband had recently died.
“I was the sole breadwinner,” Logan said. “I had
to stay open or I was done.”
OSHA fined her twice for not enforcing the
mask mandate or following capacity restrictions.
She appealed the $51,740 in fines. The case is before
the Workers Compensation Board for an adminis-
trative judge to decide.
Open defiance brings a bigger fine
About 80% of the citations issued during the
pandemic were what OSHA considers non-willful
when owners are not knowingly disobeying the law.
Through last December, it could levy between $100
and $12,750 for such a violation; the maximum is now
$13,653. No business that did not break the rules on
purpose was cited for anything close to that amount.
Most of the non-willful fines were in the hun-
dreds of dollars. The biggest fine of $4,200, against
K1, a go karting venue in Hillsboro, was for allowing
indoor entertainment. The company appealed and
a settlement was reached, allowing a six-month pay-
ment plan. K1 has paid the fine.
So have most of the other companies cited for a
non-willful violation.
The fines for willful violations ranged from
$8,900 to $126,749. The highest is now $135,653.
OSHA only fined one company – Capitol Racquet
Sports in January 2021 – the maximum amount for
its second violation. After being cited, companies
can settle with OSHA. If they decline, the citation
goes to an administrative judge at the Workers
Compensation Board. About 30 willful citations that
were appealed are at the compensation board, await-
ing a decision.
If the judge rules in OSHA’s favor, companies
can sue.
Kevin Mannix, a Salem attorney who represents
three companies, said in one appeal that the restric-
tions were unconstitutional. He declined to discuss
the cases.
“We will stand by the positions we take in our
litigation,” Mannix said in an email to the Capital
Chronicle. “We do not discuss our strategy or tactics
in these cases.”
Alsea School District in Benton County, fined
$43,000 for not requiring masks, had the third
largest fine. In its appeal, the district blamed Marc
Theilman, the former superintendent. It said the
board signed off on his recommendation “without
fully understanding the consequences.”
In March, the board passed a resolution stating
that the district will comply with state guidance.
“The Alsea Board also hired a new superintendent
that will follow all state laws and regulations,” it said.
Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States
Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by
grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public
charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains edito-
rial independence. Contact Editor Les Zaitz for ques-
tions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow
Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter.
Courthouse Club Fitness owes the largest COVID-related fines to Oregon according to new
data from the state's workplace safety agency.
Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter.