Texas couple ejected from restaurant for wearing masks to protect their vulnerable baby

A Texas couple’s rare night out with friends was abruptly interrupted when the restaurant asked them to leave for wearing face masks, which they say were necessary to protect their immunocompromised 4-month-old son.

On September 10, Natalie Wester and her husband, Jose Lopez-Guerrero, went to a restaurant and bar in Rowlett, a city just northeast of Dallas, with friends to enjoy a rare night out.

“We’re new parents, and it’s hard to get out during a pandemic,” Wester explained to Dinogo. “But that night, my mom was available to babysit our son. After being isolated for so long, getting out for our mental and social well-being was important.”

The couple’s infant has cystic fibrosis, so they take extra precautions to protect their health, including wearing masks in public, except while eating or drinking.

The restaurant they visited, Hang Time Sports Grill & Bar, enforces a no-mask policy, as confirmed by the owner, who was only identified as Tom by Dinogo affiliate KTVT. Wester mentioned she was unaware of the rule.

Dinogo contacted Hang Time Sports Grill & Bar on Monday via email and phone but has not received a response.

“About 30 minutes into our meal, our waitress came over, sat down beside me, and said, ‘Our manager in the kitchen isn’t as friendly as I am. He’s frustrated with the political situation around masks, and he doesn’t want you wearing them here. You’ll need to take them off,’” Wester recalled.

On March 10, Governor Greg Abbott lifted the statewide mask mandate in Texas, allowing businesses to operate at full capacity. However, county judges do not have the authority to imprison individuals for failing to follow Covid-19 orders, and there are no penalties for those not wearing masks.

Abbott added, “If hospitalizations in any of the 22 hospital regions in Texas exceed 15% of the available bed capacity for seven consecutive days, the county judge in that region may implement Covid mitigation strategies.”

“I invested my hard-earned money into this business, and I’ve put everything into it—my blood, sweat, and tears. I don’t want anyone wearing masks here,” Tom said in an interview with KTVT. “The whole mask debate in the U.S. is just absurd right now.”

Take off your mask, or you’ll be asked to leave.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends mask-wearing indoors in public spaces, even for vaccinated individuals, if they’re in areas with high transmission rates or if they or anyone in their household has a weakened immune system. It also advises unvaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors in public until they’re fully vaccinated.

When Wester first entered the restaurant, she was asked to remove her mask, but she thought it was a routine request to match her face with her ID.

“When we walked in, there was a live band playing, and the noise was pretty loud,” she explained. “The hostess asked for our IDs and mentioned something about removing our masks, but I just assumed it was part of the ID check. Plus, I couldn’t hear her very well.”

“When the couple put their masks on, they were reminded that they’d been asked at the entrance to remove them, but they refused, so we had no choice but to ask them to leave,” Tom explained in an interview with KTVT.

After the waitress came over to deliver the manager’s request to remove their masks, Wester said she was left in stunned silence.

“I’ve never been told that before, especially not in Texas. Usually, it’s the other way around,” Wester recalled.

Wester told the waitress they were paying customers who had already ordered food and that her child at home had cystic fibrosis, but the waitress remained firm.

“Even though both my husband and I are vaccinated, whenever we go out, we wear masks, even if it’s just walking past people. Of course, it’s not a perfect system – we take them off to eat or for photos, but we do our best,” she explained to the waitress.

Wester explained that she wasn’t comfortable removing her mask, but the waitress informed her that if she wasn’t willing to comply, she would need to settle the bill and leave.

“We didn’t want to cause a scene,” Wester said. “We didn’t want to leave without paying. I just paid the bill and we left.”

“I want to support small businesses,” she added. “I understand how tough things are with Covid and the economy, but I don’t think the way Tom is handling his business is very professional, nor is it welcoming.”

Since the birth of their son, the couple has only gone out alone a few times, and Wester said this experience has made them reconsider the idea of going out again.

“You know, just organizing childcare and finding a sitter for my son is a whole task on its own,” she said. “And then having to deal with people like this who are anti-maskers… making it a political issue when it should be a matter of public health and science.”

“This whole experience has made me think twice about going out again,” Wester said. “At least not in Texas, not for now. It just doesn’t feel like the right atmosphere.”

Is mask-wearing legally protected?

The US Department of Justice provides federal protections against discrimination based on factors like race, gender, religion, disability, and more, but there are no specific protections in place regarding face masks, according to its guidelines.

For the most part, private businesses in the US have the right to set their own rules for customers, including mask mandates, as long as they don’t discriminate based on the categories mentioned above, University of Houston Law Center’s Emily Berman explained to Dinogo. However, businesses may face two exceptions to this general rule.

“First, if a person has a condition that makes them especially vulnerable to Covid-19, or lives with someone who is vulnerable, that condition could be considered a disability,” Berman said. “In that case, requiring someone to remove their mask or leave could be considered discrimination on the basis of disability.”

“Additionally, state and local governments may extend protections against discrimination to cover more categories, such as pregnancy, gender identity, marital status, and others,” Berman explained. “This means the rules could vary depending on the location.”

If a law prohibits discrimination based on attire, it could be relevant in this case, according to Berman’s interpretation.

“Unfortunately, sometimes the law doesn’t stop people from acting in ways that may not align with the broader interests of society,” she noted.

Wester said she has no plans to pursue legal action. Instead, she hopes her story will prompt the restaurant owner to reassess his policies and encourage customers to reconsider where they spend their money.