Bar owner takes COVID appeal to state Supreme Court
MILFORD — The state Supreme Court this week is scheduled to hear its first pandemic-related business case filed by a pub owner who is challenging Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders that have closed bars during the public health crisis.
Kristine Casey, owner of Casey’s Irish Pub in Milford and her company Black Sheep Enterprise LLC, have been paying $3,200 a month in rent and other ancillary costs since March when Lamont closed bars as the coronavirus pandemic began to spread across the state.
But she hasn’t been able to open the pub because there was no “economically feasible” way to serve a limited amount of customers and no space for outside dining, her attorney said.
“Casey is hemorrhaging personal savings and borrowing from her father to try to stay afloat,” her attorney Jonathan Klein wrote in court documents. “She has not been able to secure any loans through the Small Business Administration. She is fast running out of funds and the shutdown forced upon her by the governor’s executive orders will put her out of business if it continues much longer.”
The state Supreme Court arguments on Friday will come as the state and country are facing a surge of COVID-19 cases with escalating hospitalizations and deaths.
Casey filed suit in June against Lamont’s executive orders, which closed bars unless food was served after his administration issued guidelines on how to safely open, including social distancing and other safety measures.
Casey’s Irish Pub has 15 bar stools, two high-top tables and a pool table. The establishment’s maximum capacity is 59 people. There is no room for outside seating since the pub is located at the end of a strip mall with several other businesses, Klein said.
“She had no choice but to close,” Klein said.
The pub’s business comes from the neighborhood, much like “Cheers,” the local Boston bar featured in the popular television show of the same name, he said. They don’t come for the food, Klein said. “About 90 percent of the business is the sale of alcoholic beverages,” he said.
State guidelines stipulate that restaurants can open for dine-in service until 10 p.m. at 50 percent capacity with 6-foot spacing or Plexiglas barriers and seating limited to no more than eight people per table. Bars that do not serve full meals must remain closed. But bars can offer food and alcohol for takeout.
Klein contended in the lawsuit filed in Superior Court that Lamont doesn’t have the authority under the state Constitution to issue executive orders and whatever power he has been granted by the legislature violates the separation of powers.
Casey was seeking a temporary and permanent injunction, barring Lamont from issuing any further executive orders on drinking establishments and striking down the orders related to bars and restaurants he has issued since March.
In September, a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Lamont, saying state law grants him the authority to act for public health and safety during the pandemic, which the judge interpreted as a “serious disaster.”
Judge Barbara Bellis also ruled the orders do not constitute a violation of the separation of powers since the legislature enacted the law that gave Lamont authority to issue executive orders during a time of crisis.
“Certainly, the governor’s executive orders closing indoor drinking establishments that are not serving food acted to protect the general health, safety and welfare of the people of Connecticut,” Bellis said in her decision. “It’s now common knowledge that COVID-19 is spread by people who are in close physical contact with each other. It is also well known that people who are drinking alcohol in bars tend to gather in close proximity to socialize.”
Casey appealed to the state Supreme Court, which will take up a case of “significant public interest,” Klein said.