Law states that businesses can require masks
Several weeks have passed since Texas ended its COVID-19 mask mandate. But if you want to pick up a snack at
Soul Popped Gourmet Popcorn in Austin’s Barton Creek Square Mall, you’ll still be turned away if you aren’t wearing a face covering.
“We cannot afford to take chances with the lives of my staffers,” said owner De J. Lozada.
Eighteen states have no mask requirements, including some that have never made face coverings mandatory. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lifted his state’s mask mandate on March 2, and Indiana expects to end its mandate on Tuesday.
But many business owners like Lozada are keeping their own rules in place, requiring staffers and customers alike to wear masks for the sake of protecting everybody, particularly their employees.
And the law is on an owner’s side. A company’s premises are private property, so owners can insist that customers wear masks, said Michael Jones, an attorney with the law firm Eckert Seamans in Philadelphia. It’s legal as long as owners don’t enforce their requirements in a discriminatory way, he said.
If a customer enters a store without a mask, is asked to leave and doesn’t, that could be trespassing under the law. Lozada said she would call 911 if faced with that situation.
Employers have an obligation under federal law and some state laws to provide a safe workplace for their employees, and that can include requiring everyone on the premises to wear masks. In the COVID-19 section of its website, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration notes that employers are required to have a workplace “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” In other developments:
The nation’s top health agency is no longer recommending daily disinfection of schools to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance Monday, saying disinfecting chemicals like ammonia and bleach need be used only within 24 hours after an infected person has been there.
California will allow professional sports and other indoor events to resume April 15. On that date, venues will be permitted to have live audiences with strict capacity limits. Larger private gatherings indoors will be allowed, too.
Starting Monday, any adult in Florida is eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine. In addition, the state announced that teens ages 16 and 17 can also get the vaccine with parental permission.