Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Add another popular Buffalo restaurant to the list of those that are going after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Department of Health over COVID operating restrictions.
In a new suit filed Monday, the operator of Hutch's is arguing that the orange zone restaurant restrictions are illegal in that they are 'arbitrary and capricious' by being based on city boundaries and that operating standards for restaurants are not consistent with those of big box retailers.
"If you're going to have a certain section you're going to designate orange, the science ought to completely support that," attorney Paul Cambria tells WBEN. The boundaries are based on city limits, says Cambria, not science.
Additionally the suit raises the inconsistencies between operating guidelines for restaurants and big box retailers. "There are additional requirements for restaurants than there are for big box," says Cambria and that's a red flag. Social distancing is encouraged in big box retail, says Cambria, while it's required for restaurants in addition to strict distance guidelines for tables and limiting seating to four customers per table.
The goal of the suit would be to have restaurants at least be allowed to reopen with restricted capacity, six foot distance between tables along with masks for servers and workers.
The suit filed by Hutch's is in addition to a class action suit filed by dozens of restaurants that has already been argued in State Supreme Court. A decision in that case is expected sometime this week.
