When Bill DeJong went to pay his employees at Billy’s Café in Burlington last month, he suffered a gut punch after opening his bank account.
Nearly $8,700 needed for payroll was gone, DeJong told The Dori Monson Show. It was seized by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) over what the agency says are COVID “safety citations.”
Over the past few months, DeJong says, L&I slapped him with more than $367,000 in fines over refusing to adhere to Gov. Inslee’s mask mandates. But the café owner objects to what he calls the state’s “crazy rules,” and says dining at his restaurant is “up to Americans and I am not telling them what to do.”
“I want to make sure we’re clear: When [COVID] first happened, I shut down like everybody else,” DeJong said. “I was worried about the safety of my employees, my customers, my family.”
mynorthwest.com/3336453/owner-of-billys-cafe-burlington-vows-to-fight-state/