An In-N-Out Burger restaurant in California was forced to shut down for refusing to enforce the county’s COVID-19 vaccination rules.
According to the Associated Press, health officials in Contra Costa County indefinitely shut the restaurant in Pleasant Hill after it ignored repeated warnings to verify that customers who wanted to dine indoors had vaccination cards or proof they had tested negative for the virus in the past 72 hours.
“The Pleasant Hill In-N-Out location received four citations in recent weeks and fines totaling $1,750, all for the same health order violation, before today’s action,” Contra Costa Environmental Health (CCEH) said in a statement.
Two other In-N-Out restaurants in the area have also been given fines and warnings. This after one of the restaurants in San Francisco was temporarily closed for not following the county’s vaccine mandate.
The restaurant was allowed to reopen for only takeout and outdoor dining.
In a statement, the restaurant’s Legal and Business Officer Arnie Wensinger, defended their decision to not enforce vaccine mandates, saying it shouldn’t be their job to police a person’s vaccine status.
“We refuse to become the vaccination police for any government. It is unreasonable, invasive, and unsafe to force our restaurant Associates to segregate Customers into those who may be served and those who may not, whether based on the documentation they carry, or any other reason,” Wensinger said.
