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Making The Case: Statewide Mask Mandate and business policies
With the governor lifting the statewide mask mandate next week and letting businesses reopen fully, a lot of workers might be getting the call to go back to work. But some are making the case that they don't feel safe doing so yet, so we spoke with Attorney Charles Adams about worker and customer rights when it comes to businesses now being able to set their own policies in the pandemic.
HOUSTON - When Texas lifts state pandemic restrictions on March 10, employees who still don’t feel safe going back to work might have to say goodbye to their job. FOX26 anchor Kaitlin Monte held a legal Q&A with attorney Charles Adams.
"Ultimately, businesses have the right to maintain the rules at their private property," explains attorney Charles Adams. "There are some things like the Americans with Disability Act, and other federal and state statutes, that limit that slightly."
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With a lot of workers likely to get the call to return to work, do they have any right to keep their job if they refuse to return over safety concerns?
"They don’t have a tremendous amount of right," Adams explains. "For most employers, they can not only require you to come back to work, but they can require you to come back maskless, which is just absurd."
If you turn down the opportunity to return to work, can you still file for unemployment?
"You most certainly can file for an employment," says Adams. "They might fight it and you might be denied. I think ultimately you will win if you look at the regulations issued by the Texas Workforce Commission, but again there’s no guarantees."
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If you qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act to wear a mask, do you have to disclose the health condition? Where is the privacy line?
"Most certainly not," emphasized Adams. "You don’t have to tell anyone your medical conditions. That’s private. You just have to let them know about the existence of a medical condition that requires that reasonable accommodation. If employee says, ‘look, I’ll come back to work but I have this medical condition and I need to wear this mask,’ and they terminate the employee, they could be looking at a lot of liability."
We know someone can be kicked out for not wearing a mask at the store requires it, and even face charges. On the other side, what if you want to wear a mask, they tell you to take it off, perhaps citing security purposes? Can they do that?
"They most certainly can," says Adams. "It’s a private business. Private businesses can set their own rules on their own property, and the governor acknowledged that. Again, as a consumer, you just have to make the decision on whether or not you want to do business of people requiring masks, or refusing to allow—I don’t think we’re going to see very many people refusing to allow masks because, again, that could give rise to an Americans with Disabilities Act case, so there is some liability."