After mocking COVID rules, seafood restaurant nets biggest fine

By Jeff South

Virginia Center for Investigative Journalism

“I can pretend your mask works, then you can pretend I’m wearing one.”

Calabash Seafood, a restaurant in Hanover County, posted a sign with those words on its front door, according to inspectors from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry.

They said the sign reflected the business owner’s hostile attitude toward DOLI’s rules requiring employers to protect their workers from the coronavirus.

That attitude was a big reason why DOLI slapped Calabash Seafood with a $62,490 fine — more than double the penalty faced by any other Virginia employer accused of violating the state’s COVID workplace standards.

Dennis Smith, who owns the restaurant, did not respond to requests for an interview. But the inspectors’ report quoted him as saying, “The public comes here because I don't require customers to wear a mask. They are tired of the [expletive] that is currently going on.”

In July 2020, DOLI adopted a set of rules called 16VAC25-220, which required face coverings, social distancing and other COVID-related precautions in the workplace. Inspectors from the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program contacted Smith the following month after the Virginia Department of Health received complaints from Calabash Seafood customers that the restaurant’s employees were not wearing masks.  

According to the inspection report, Smith said, “The 16VAC is not law” because it has not been approved by the General Assembly. The report also quoted him as saying, “A mask does not provide protection.” 

“When asked if he knew that customer-facing employees are required by Governor's Executive Orders and 16VAC25-220 to wear a mask, the employer said, ‘Yes, but I will tell you all, no I won’t make them,” the document said.

The inspectors said Calabash Seafood, on the 7500 block of Lee Davis Road in Mechanicsville, posted notices telling its servers, bartenders, hostesses and cashiers to wear a mask “if you are able.” 

But dishwashers and busboys received no such guidance — “even though busboys that enter the dining area would be considered customer-facing jobs and required to wear face coverings” under the workplace standards, the report said.

“The investigation further revealed that the employer’s management personnel were specifically aware that multiple employees in customer-facing jobs did not wear face coverings,” it added.

The inspectors declared that the restaurant’s refusal to require workers in customer-facing jobs to wear face coverings was a willful violation of the state’s workplace rules. They imposed a $57,500 fine for that violation.

In addition, inspectors fined Calabash Seafood $4,990 for failure to install plastic sneeze guards or other physical barriers between customers and cashiers. 

According to government records, Smith has not paid the fine, and the case is still pending.