SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — Some small businesses are requiring customers to wear masks. With that, people question if it's legal considering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's executive order.
On May 3, 2021, Gov. DeSantis signed an executive order that states, "in order to mitigate the adverse and unintended consequences of the COVID-19 emergency and to accelerate the State's recovery, all local COVID-19 restrictions and mandates on individuals and businesses are hereby suspended."
After that executive order was issued, some places stopped requiring masks. However, recently with the spike in COVID-19 cases, some businesses have begun requiring masks again.
So people are asking, can business owners legally do that?
According to Charles Gallagher of Gallagher & Associates Law Firm, private businesses can require masks.
Gallagher, a St. Petersburg attorney, points to the importance of noting whether the business is public or private. Depending on who controls the business will depend if Governor DeSantis' executive order can overrule a mask mandate.
When talking about private businesses, the owner has complete control according to Gallagher.
“It’s a private establishment. So, you have the right to control who is in it or not. If someone in there is unruly, you can ask them to leave. If someone is not wearing a mask and you imposed a mask requirement for your business, you can ask them to leave," Gallagher explained.
Gov. DeSantis controls mask mandates when it comes to public places. For example, DeSantis has ruled that schools can't mandate masks.
There are private businesses who are requiring masks, like (swah-rey), a dessert bar in St Pete. Gallagher explained the owner of (swah-rey) has total control over mandating masks for her customers because she owns a private business.
Gallagher compares that to other businesses when they state, "shirt and shoes required." Gallagher explained, "the same way they can say, 'no shirt, no shoes, no service,' they can also say, 'no mask, no service.'”
As long as the business is privately owned, Gallagher said they can make their own rules, including requiring masks. “Businesses have control over their own domain over their own space," Gallagher added.
Gallagher explained, when making these rules at a government level with an executive order, public safety should be the main priority. That's why he questions if the court system would side with the governor in the case someone were to go against his order.
“You scratch your head a little bit when you say, 'what’s the public welfare of an order that refuses and does not permit masking in public spaces, where the underlying goal really increases economics, trade and commerce.' It doesn’t make a lot of sense when you think about that in the grand scheme of things.”
