California Restaurant Owners Seek Refunds For Business Fees They Paid During Stay-At-Home Orders
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- Restaurants owners statewide are requesting refunds due to money they had to pay the government despite stay-at-home orders.
Many businesses had to close their doors but continued paying fees for liquor licenses, health permits and other assessments.
Now, they're looking to get that money back, and are being supported in the legal action by the California Restaurant Association.
Claims were filed in Los Angeles County and Orange County and also in San Diego, Sacramento and Monterey counties.
Additional claims are expected in San Francisco, Fresno and Placer counties, according to the restaurant owners' attorneys.
Plaintiffs' attorney Brian Kabateck said, "Restaurant owners are obligated to pay these government fees just to operate, yet the same government entities who have collected those fees have forced these businesses to close their doors or drastically restrict operations due to the pandemic. We simply want the government to return those fees to those restaurants who followed the law and closed.''
"It's offensive and tone-deaf for these entities to enforce these rules and charge fees for licenses and permits these businesses can't use," Kabateck also said.
California government officials have 45 days to respond to the claims.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
