A now viral video shows an argument between a Yoke’s employee and a man not wearing a mask at a Spokane location.
In the video, the unmasked man says he has a medical condition and that it prevents him from wearing a mask. The employee asked the unmasked man what medical condition he has but the man refused to say.
While you are not legally required to divulge your personal medical history or conditions we are now in a grey area legally. On May 26, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that seven federal ADA lawsuits had been filed in the Pittsburgh area against the Giant Eagle grocery chain.
In each of these lawsuits, the plaintiff is a person who allegedly is unable to wear a proper face mask because he or she has a disability that makes it difficult to breathe when wearing one.
There have not been any reported court decisions interpreting the direct threat defense in the COVID-19 context, so it is not clear what, if any, reasonable accommodations Giant Eagle would have been required to provide these customers under the ADA.
In the Yoke’s video, it shows someone grabbing the unmasked man’s phone and throwing it to the ground, and as the situation escalates in the parking lot, the employee throws the man’s shoe at him and hitting him in the head.
According to the Washington State Department of Health, people should not ask a person why they are not wearing a mask due to them possibly having a medical condition.
