We learned yesterday that In-N-Out Burger's only San Francisco location has been shut down because the company is refusing to check vaccination statuses there.
It turns out that it wasn't an isolated incident; the company is apparently opposed to COVID vaccination rules at a corporate level:
A second In-n-Out restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area faces a fight with health officials over COVID-19 vaccine rules.
The chain's Pleasant Hill restaurant has been fined twice, for $250 and $500, for not checking the vaccination status of indoor diners, as required, Contra Costa County health officials told KPIX. The county imposed the second fine Tuesday...
"We refuse to become the vaccination police for any government," Arnie Wensinger, the chain's chief legal and business officer, said in a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle.
"It is unreasonable, invasive, and unsafe to force our restaurant associates to segregate customers into those who may be served and those who may not, whether based on the documentation they carry, or any other reason, " Wensinger said.
Well, this is a pleasant surprise! In a world where essentially every major corporation has adopted the same position on COVID-19 vaccines, it's incredibly refreshing to see at least one place buck the trend.
In-N-Out Burger is taking on no small amount of risk by making a stand in this way.
