Marshall County’s crackdown on face mask violations is creating challenges for one of its major retailers.
Jason Haines, the general manager of the Plymouth Walmart, told the city’s board of works Monday that his store got a verbal warning from the Marshall County Health Department, due to complaints about customers not wearing masks. “I get, ‘You will be fined, or you can be closed,’ and that’s not fair to the businesses of Marshall County,” he said.
Haines stressed that Walmart has several protocols in place. He said all employees are screened every day and wear masks. Haines added that customers who come in without a mask are offered one, but had been allowed to keep shopping if they still refused to wear it.
The store changed the policy following Monday’s warning, but Haines said some customers were not too happy. “We have police at my building right now because they want to fistfight my managers and my associates. For a mask. I don’t know what to do.”
Haines said he tried to call the Marshall County Health Department for guidance, but didn’t get a response. He also complained that he wasn’t aware of the county’s new mask ordinance until he was told his store was violating it, although City Attorney Sean Surrisi pointed out that it had been widely reported by local media when it was adopted Friday.
Still, Haines didn’t think it should be up to his employees to force non-masked shoppers to leave or ask to see a doctor’s note exempting the person from the requirement. “My parents have had COVID,” he said. “My daughter had COVID. My grandma died of COVID. I get the circumstance that we’re in, and I want people – but I don’t want to take the brunt.”
City officials promised to pass along his contact information to the county.
