Four Floridians have filed a lawsuit challenging Palm Beach County’s requirement that residents wear face masks in public spaces to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. These measures were allegedly implemented to protect the state population from a rising COVID-19 risk, but according to the residents, it is ineffective.
Residents Josie Machovec, Carl Holme, Rachel Eade, and Robert Spreitzer have taken to the courts to argue that their freedom of speech, right to privacy, and their constitutionally protected right to life and liberty have been infringed upon by their own county.
South Florida Sun Sentinel reported on the legal news, noting that Florida has reported a record number of COVID-19 cases this week — almost 9,500 new COVID-19 cases – making this the third highest jump in case numbers since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis.
In light of this threat, local governments around Florida have taken steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus. However, residents around the state have challenged this move. At least one other lawsuit has been filed that challenges the new mask requirement — the previous lawsuit took Miami-Dade County to task.
Allegedly, Palm Beach now requires all residents to wear masks in public places and requires businesses to post requirements around mask wearing in a place easily visible to patrons. In the the Palm Beach lawsuit, residents claim that the county’s requirements represent an unlawful overstep of boundaries. They also claim that the masks are unhelpful and can even be harmful to some wearers.
The Palm Beach mask lawsuit asserts that masks can lower the blood oxygen level of the wearer to dangerous levels — one of the symptoms of COVID-19 is lowered blood oxygen levels, explains the complaint. The residents go on to claim that a study indicated that around 81 percent of healthcare workers developed headaches when wearing a mask.
They also assert that the masks can pose a particular risk to vulnerable wearers. Allegedly, as the masks reduce the amount of oxygen that a wearer can threaten the health of cancer patients, as lower oxygen promotes inflammation, which can in turn, promote the growth, spread, and invasion of cancer.
The Palm Beach Florida mask lawsuit then states that masks are not effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, despite the county’s assertion. They note that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has stated that wearing a cloth mask or a surgical mask will not protect the wearer against “airborne transmissible infectious agents due to loose fit and lack of seal and adequate filtration.”
The residents go on to stress that there are no scientific studies available that show that wearing facial coverings helps prevent the transmission of the virus. What the evidence does suggest, say the residents, is that it is rare for COVID-19 to be transmitted by symptomatic people to others.
To support the claim that face masks are unhelpful and unnecessary, the residents assert that neither the state of Florida nor Palm Beach County has ever mandated that residents wear facial coverings to prevent the spread of a disease. In their words, “pandemics, like the purported COVID-19 pandemic, are nothing new or novel.” Allegedly, diseases like the coronavirus have been documented and studied “for generations” and now new information is available that indicates that face coverings prevents the spread of these diseases.
The Palm Beach mask requirement lawsuit states that the county’s requirement is an unlawful overstep of their requirements. The residents state that the Centers for Disease Control announced that it does not recommend the use of face masks to prevent COVID, and the Whitehouse only recommended them and did not require them, in presenting guidelines for states on how to open the states.
Similarly, the Florida governor did not require them when implementing a plan to reopen Florida, and instead, let individuals decide if they wanted to wear face mask.
Notably, the county itself previously did not recommend that N95 masks should not be worn, and instead informed the public that they should be reserved for healthcare workers, emergency workers, and others.
What COVID-19 safety requirements does your city have in place? Share your experiences in the comments below.
Josie Machovec, Carl Holme, Rachel Eade, and Robert Spreitzer are represented by Louis Leo IV, Joel Medgebow, Melissa Martz, and Cory C. Strolla of the Florida Civil Rights Coalition PLLC.
The Palm Beach Unlawful Mask Requirement Lawsuit is Josie Machovec, et al. v. Palm Beach County, Case No. 502020CV006920XXXXMB, in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County, Florida.
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6 thoughts onPalm Beach Residents Sue Over Face Mask Order
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There are more studies available now that indicate the negative effects of wearing a mask for a prolonged period of time. Children in my town are forced to wear a mask at school for 6 hrs straight, even on the playground, with the exception of eating at their desks alone. They are not allowed to hug or play with any balls or normal playground toys. These are elementary children. There is a lot of information how covering your face adversely effects the development for children who rely on facial expression. Look at people wearing masks, do any of them look happy? Our suicide rate is through the roof, nobody knows what to do anymore. Every weekend another teenager is killing themselves. In our area, we have had 88 people die in 8 months, from or infected with Covid19. Our schools are about to shut down again because healthy teachers are being forced into quarantine. Our school has had 5 schedule changes since September. When does this end? Do people think a vaccine is a cure? There have only ever been 2 viruses eradicated in the history of mankind and about 220 currently circulate the world. This virus is here just like all other viruses, and is likely never going away. This chaos has to stop. You are more likely to of heart disease or in a car accident, than from covid19.
Stay home requires no mask.
Orange county Florida has implemented the same County ordinance. we must wear face masks in public and in public places or we are turned away at the door and we are subject to arrest and or fines by local enforcement. I have COPD and I have a very hard time wearing that face mask. Why don’t I have the same right to breathe as everyone else they don’t want to spread a Coronavirus and yet they demand I wear something that restricts my breathing.
I just joined the laborers union in Washington State last week and was sent to a job but turned away because of my attitude about the mask. I would like to sue the shit out of them for discrimination. Can you offer any help advice or links?
Add me.