Bar Owners Get No Relief from Florida’s COVID Shut-Down Orders

Florida’s 5^th District Court of Appeal has affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of a suit brought by bar owners in Orlando who were shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Orlando Bar Group and its three establishments had sued Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and county officials after bars and restaurants were ordered to close to help prevent the spread of the virus in 2020.

The bars’ complaint has been seen as somewhat ironic, given DeSantis’ and other Republican state leaders’ assertions that Florida is “the freest state,” and that mandates about the virus were inappropriate. Florida’s shut-down orders were shorter-lived than many other states.

Nonetheless, the nightclub owners claimed that the closures and other restrictions constituted government takings and “inverse condemnation,” which entitled them to compensation. The trial court in Orange County and the 5^th DCA did not agree, citing previous court rulings on government takings and regulations.

“Appellants raise multiple issues on appeal; several merit discussion, whereas others do not,” the appeals court held.

The government’s pandemic emergency orders amounted to a prohibition on the sale of alcoholic beverages for only 17 days, after which the businesses were incrementally permitted to return to limited operation, the court explained. The COVID orders also represented “a valid use of the state’s police power to protect the general welfare,” the judges noted.

“If the state can use its police power to temporarily prohibit the sale of fireworks to prevent wildfires during an exceptionally dry period in Florida, it stands to reason that the state can also use its police powers in an effort to limit the spread of a highly infectious and deadly virus,” the April 8 opinion reads.

The court also noted that the bar owners had not correctly preserved the issue for appellate review.

Topics Florida COVID-19