Health officials in California’s Contra Costa County have ordered the closure of an In-N-Out location due to the company’s refusal to comply with the statewide vaccine mandate, according to The Hill.
Contra Costa Environmental Health (CCEH) released a statement on Tuesday announcing their decision, claiming that “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.” At least two other locations in the county have been subjected to similar fines, and another In-N-Out in San Francisco was previously closed for similar refusal to comply.
The clash between the fast food chain and local officials stems from California’s latest mandate, which orders private businesses to check the vaccination status of every customer before they enter the establishment.
Responding to the latest action against the chain, In-N-Out’s Legal and Business Officer Arnie Wensinger released a statement declaring that “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,” he continued, “whether based on the documentation they carry, or any other reason.”
In-N-Out, a fast food chain that is located almost exclusively in California but has other locations in the Western United States, has become a rallying cry for conservatives and others who oppose vaccine mandates such as the ones imposed in California. The privately-owned business has repeatedly refused to comply with such measures, even as California doubles down on some of the strictest orders of their kind in the entire nation.