Minnesota Restaurant/Bar to Pay $15K for Executive Order Violations

A Minnesota bar and restaurant will pay $15,000 to settle a lawsuit over violations of the governor’s COVID-19 restrictions orders.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office has settled its lawsuit against New Prague eatery, St. Patrick’s Tavern & Restaurant, for violations of Governor Tim Walz’s Executive Order 20-99 and Executive Order 20-103.

Per the terms of a consent judgment filed in Scott County, St. Patrick’s Tavern & Restaurant will pay a $15,000 fine and comply with the requirements current and future executive orders that apply to bars and restaurants while those executive orders are in effect.

If St. Patrick’s Tavern & Restaurant were to violate any of the terms of the consent judgment, it would be subject to a civil penalty of $25,000. All funds received in this settlement go to the State of Minnesota General Fund, not the Attorney General’s Office.

One of the requirements of the executive orders — a targeted, temporary dial-back of certain activities to halt the spread of COVID-19 — was that bars and restaurants were prohibited from permitting indoor, on-premises consumption of food or drink starting Friday, Nov. 20, 2020, at 11:59 p.m. until Jan. 10, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.

The Attorney General’s Office said that despite efforts to gain compliance with the requirements, St. Patrick’s Tavern & Restaurant remained open for indoor, on-premises consumption. A county sheriff deputy and a state investigator noted multiple violations in several unannounced visits.

Even after the Attorney General’s Office first called St. Patrick’s Tavern & Restaurant to provide education on the requirements of Executive Order 20-99, the owner indicated that she was not sure whether she would comply with the executive orders. After that phone call, St. Patrick’s Tavern & Restaurant remained open for indoor, on-premises consumption of food and drink, and hosted several hundred customers indoors on both Dec. 18 and 19, 2020. On Dec. 21, Attorney General Ellison’s office filed a lawsuit against the bar and restaurant for openly violating the executive orders.

This represents the sixth settlement the Attorney General’s office has reached with businesses against which it had filed enforcement actions for violating the terms of Executive Orders 20-99 and 20-103.

Source: Minnesota AG’s Office