A judge says the owner of the canceled UPS franchise in Newport must comply with the governor’s Covid-19 mandate that business employees wear masks in the presence of others.
The order issued Tuesday by Orleans County Judge Mary Miles Teachout complicates how the store owner — who lost his franchise last week and faces a state lawsuit over noncompliance with the mandate — will be able to continue operating as a printing business as planned.
“We’re here not only fighting for Derby Port Press — or the UPS Store originally — we’re fighting for every business in the state of Vermont,” owner Andre “Mike” Desautels said Monday, characterizing his effort as “for the freedom of the American people.”
Desautels, shown in a video published by the Newport Dispatch, was speaking to a crowd that rallied outside his Main Street storefront that day after UPS decided to nix his franchise agreement.
He had run the UPS location since 2015. But after news broke that he was refusing to comply with Gov. Phil Scott’s April executive order requiring business employees to wear face coverings in the presence of others, UPS cut ties with Desautels last week.
The store owner’s refusal led the Vermont Attorney General’s Office to file a civil suit against him Friday, asking a judge to order Desautels’ compliance.
Teachout on Tuesday granted the state’s motion for a temporary restraining order, which said Desautels must stop violating the governor’s mandate. The judge agreed with state lawyers that the public would suffer harm if Desautels continued to do business with unmasked employees.
The order expires in 14 days.
Compliance checks conducted by the Newport Police Department showed Desautels and his staff continued to violate the governor’s orders even after the complaint was filed, the attorney general’s office said.
“I hope that Mr. Desautels follows the lead of countless other Vermont businesses who have followed the governor’s orders,” said Attorney General TJ Donovan. “This entire situation is completely avoidable.”
About a dozen or more people lined the sidewalk outside the store Monday, toting signs calling the mask mandate tyranny and Scott a dictator.
“I’m so thankful that we finally have a business owner that’s willing to stand up,” Shylo Bordeau says in a video livestreamed from the event to Facebook. Bordeau is co-founder of 802 Freedom, a group formed last year in opposition to the state’s mask mandates.
“I know that there’s so many other business owners … that are just scared and afraid, and we’re here to let them know that you don’t have to be,” Bordeau says.
The video shows Bordeau speaking with other demonstrators about why they had come out in support of Desautels, some from as far away as Stowe.
“I’m pretty open minded to the idea of, let’s see, democracy in America, upholding the Constitution, free speech,” one attendee tells Bordeau. “I don’t like censorship at all. I love the idea of people breathing freely this beautiful air that we have been given to enjoy as humans.”
Another attendee bumps shoulders with that speaker after gleefully saying, “I support caring for people, up close and personal.”
Later on, Bordeau complains that a person from the second floor of the building had sworn at them, blasted music and thrown snow at the protesters.
“I think it’s time to call the police department,” Bordeau says. “They’re throwing the snow right at me with the baby down here.”
Soon after, a person off camera suggests that someone “go up there and kick their ass.”
In another video from the event, Morristown resident Claudia Stauber interviews Desautels about the saga.
“We haven’t worn a mask for a year,” Desautels says in a video posted to Stauber’s YouTube channel, which has 24,000 subscribers. Along with her channel, Stauber runs an animal sanctuary in Morrisville and in 2019 was voted by readers of the Vermont Community Newspaper Group papers as “Ms. Lamoille.”
“Two weeks ago today, we put a sign up to try to be respectful to the customers coming in,” Desautels says, explaining that the store asked people not to enter if they weren’t comfortable with unmasked employees. “And once we did that, I guess, all hell broke loose.”
Stauber asks Desautels why the state is suing him, and he says the state believes he is endangering the public’s health.
“Those (bleeps),” Stauber says, causing Desautels to laugh. “Honestly.”
“Yes,” he replies.
Desautels also questions the legality of preventing people from getting to their mailboxes inside his store.
In both the Stauber and the Newport Dispatch videos from Monday, Desautels is not wearing a mask in the store while others visit inside.
Last Friday, the store owner told the Newport Dispatch that Derby Port Press, a print company he bought in 2018, will continue to operate from the building on Main Street. He said few of the store’s services would change.
But Liz Vickers, who owns the building Desautels operates out of, said Tuesday that she had sent him a termination of lease notice and plans to work with him to move out by the end of the month.
Responding to questions from Newport Daily Express reporter Ed Barber at the governor’s regularly scheduled press conference Tuesday, Scott reiterated his position that the situation with the UPS store was preventable.
“Most everyone else is doing it, and it has prevented loss of life here in Vermont,” the governor said of wearing a mask.
Newport Mayor Paul Monette said Tuesday that the city has followed Covid protocols and the “vast majority” of locals have done the same.
“In my opinion, it takes a community working together to beat this pandemic and it appears to be working, as there are less cases and people are being vaccinated,” the mayor said. “Hopefully by summer we can begin to get back to some sort of normalcy.”
The state’s suit against Desautels remains ongoing. A hearing is scheduled for March 5.
