CLARKSBURG — The owners of a more than a dozen Morgantown bars and clubs have filed a federal lawsuit claiming Gov. Jim Justice’s COVID-19 executive orders that closed down their businesses are unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs – Whisper Night Club & Lounge, Fat Daddy’s, Almost Heaven Bar & Grill, Baby Squirrels Saloon, Big Times, Crab Shack Caribba and Dockside Grill, Joe Mama’s, Extensive Enterprises, Mountain Mamas Hot Spot, Mountain Mamas Tavern, SAR Tech, SHC, The Annex, 4th & Goal and Scorers – filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg against Justice, state Alcohol Control Administration Commissioner Frederic L. Wooton, the City of Morgantown and interim City Manager Emily Mozzarelli.
The lawsuit is the latest in several recently filed regarding Justice's executive orders and/or the state's school re-entry plan.
Justice
According to the 24-page complaint, Justice’s executive orders dating back to March when the pandemic began have violated the plaintiffs’ state and federal Constitutional rights by limiting their ability to operate their businesses without due process.
That includes a July 14 order that shut down bars in Monongalia County for 10 days, but it was continued numerous times through August 31. On September 2, the shutdown resumed following large crowds of primarily West Virginia University students with little social distancing and few face masks packed bar. That ban remains in effect.
The plaintiffs claim their due process has been taken away from them. They also say there has been a breach of the separation of powers provision of the state Constitution as well as the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection Act.
They claim Wooton, the city and Mozzarelli have joined in enforcing these violations.
The plaintiffs seek compensatory damages for their injuries and losses as well as attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief. They also seek a writ of mandamus to require the defendants to promptly initiate a condemnation proceeding to compensate the plaintiffs for the taking of property.
They are being represented by Martin P. Sheehan of Sheehan & Associates in Wheeling.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number 1:20-cv-00229