OKEECHOBEE COUNTY — Bar, lounge, nightclub and tavern owners have joined up in a class-action lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Halsey Beshears, chief of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), over emergency orders that kept these businesses closed from March through early June and now, again, since June 26.

Stuart lawyer Travis R. Walker filed this action pro bono July 16 on behalf of Just One More LLC, a Tallahassee bar, in the Circuit Court of the 2nd Judicial Circuit in and for Leon County, Florida, and for dozens of co-plaintiffs.

Jeffrey Kennedy, as principal of Jeffrey Kennedy LLC d/b/a Back to Butch’s Bar in Okeechobee County, is among the many business owners who signed on to be represented by him in this class-action lawsuit.

“We believe the shutdown is arbitrary and singles out bar owners in a discriminatory fashion,” said Walker. “We have filed suit against the Department of Business and Professional Regulation as this order selectively culls out bar owners and is not rationally related to the purpose the government is attempting. We currently have over 70 bars which have retained our pro bono services and are anticipating more to join.”

This is only one of similar lawsuits filed statewide by business owners in many cities, including Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, seeking to have the governor’s executive orders and DBPR rules and regulations imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic apply equally to all businesses.

Subject of the lawsuit is “Amended Emergency Order 2020-09 issued by … Beshears … on July 1 … for declaratory relief, injunctive relief and/or for damages that exceed $30,000” to each of the plaintiffs’ companies. They state they are vendors licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on their premises, but are not restaurants licensed to offer food service, and derive more than 50 percent of their gross revenue from alcoholic beverage sales. “Plaintiffs have been, and continue to be, unable to operate their businesses completely or substantially since June 26,” the lawsuit states.

The DBPR rules allow vendors where more than 50 percent of gross revenue is derived from food sales to offer alcoholic beverages for sale to patrons for on-premises consumption, so long as they operate at no more than 50 percent of indoor capacity; the groups of these lawsuit plaintiffs seek the same.

The plaintiffs seek:
• Injunctions that will pause or limit enforcement of the governor’s June 26 executive order;
• Equal protection under the Florida and United States Constitutions; and
• Just compensation for taking away a citizen’s rights.

Walker’s website states his reason offering free legal assistance in this case: “Bars and restaurants have a special place in Travis Walker’s heart. Although he has been practicing law for more than a decade, he paid his way through college by busing tables. Therefore, he was taken aback by the order and continues to feel that it was completely arbitrary. Travis believes there is no reason that bars should be singled out as a place that can spread coronavirus any more than any other business.”

Kennedy said in late June, “I listened to our governor state on television that we ‘are not going back’ into a shutdown, but that’s what has happened.”

Walker states on his website: “Bars were allowed to reopen on June 5, with diminished standing-room occupancy. However, the Governor’s Emergency Order 2020-09, which was released on June 26, reverses course from the original plan released at the beginning of June.”

The lawsuit alleges, additionally, that “there is not a logical link which would support a claim that COVID-19 is more susceptible to spreading at a bar rather than a restaurant.”

Walker noted that no one has any idea how long the bars will remain closed under the June 26 order and that he and his firm are tackling other aspects of the COVID-19 response as they pertain to his clients’ businesses.

Walker argues, “Being proactive could help save many Florida bars from closing their doors permanently” because “this level of uncertainty can lead to serious financial difficulty.”

He said some insurance companies have denied bar owners’ claims made under business interruption coverages and is suing over these denials, “where appropriate,” as well.

His website says Walker “plans to explore various additional legal avenues to address the bar owner’s legal rights as well,” and quotes him: “Are they slam-dunk cases? No. But we feel strongly about them, and we feel like it’s a good fight to go fight.”