Dori: State fines grow for Burlington café owner who calls mask-use optional

Earlier this month, The Dori Monson Show shared the story of a Skagit County café owner facing $367,000 in fines from the State of Washington for failure to enforce Gov. Inslee’s mask mandate.

Dori: State seizes payroll money from Skagit County café; owner vows to fight

At that time, Bill DeJong of Billy’s Café in Burlington said the state Department of Labor & Industries had seized more than $8,000 from his bank account, preventing him from paying his employees.

Now, DeJong has racked up another $20,000 in penalties from L&I for 36 COVID-related “safety citations” since last May. DeJong told Dori that he does not intend to pay these fines either.

According to L&I, the department started trying to collect on the citations in May 2021 via mail and phone calls. In November, the state offered to arrange a payment plan with DeJong, an L&I official told Dori.

“In December, when Mr. DeJong claimed he could not pay the fines or set up a payment plan, we asked him to show us that so we could work with him. He refused and indicated that he just wouldn’t pay anything instead,” the L&I official wrote. “In January, after another conversation to set something up, we moved forward with filing the bank levy, but as of this morning we had not yet received any notification from the bank that funds have been removed.”

DeJong remains frustrated that his small business is being targeted by the state for requiring mask use while large, public events in the state – including professional sporting events – do not.

“What are you going to do?,” Dori asked DeJong. “What if they try to ruin your life over this?”

“I’m hoping all the pressure builds,” DeJong said. “All the other businesses that appealed and went through the process, I don’t think they’re open anymore, … but there is support out there. I have no idea how the game ends. It’s scary sometimes, but at the same time, it’s totally worth it.”

Listen to Dori’s follow-up interview with Bill DeJong:

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