Monticello Restaurant Reaches Settlement with State- Pay Profits

This last round of shut-downs for bars and restaurants was really hard on that industry.  It was bad the first go-round.  And then when the second one came along, some restaurant owners "had enough".  And some places just decided to open up anyway. Defying the order that had been put in place by the Governor.

Some of these places have been fined, and some have been brought to court with lawsuits. The Cornerstone Cafe in Monticello is one of those places. Most of the owners of restaurants that reopened gave the reason for the reopening to help out their employees.  They need paychecks, and owners were going  to do what they could to help them out.  Understanding this may be part of the reason for the settlement agreement that was reached.

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Attorney General, Keith Ellison made a statement regarding the settlement according to Bring Me the News:

I thank this establishment for agreeing to meet its responsibility to help all Minnesotans stop the spread of COVID-19 and congratulate it on rejoining the vast majority of Minnesota bars and restaurants that are already doing so...

The settlement included the Cornerstone Cafe to pay the state all the profit they made during the time that they reopened before the order was lifted.  They reopened in December and made a profit of approximately $10,000.  That amount will be paid to the state.  But if you think about it, if the reason was to be able to pay the employees, that mission was accomplished.

Apparently the Cornerstone Cafe has agreed to comply with any future executive orders that may happen.  Part of the settlement agreement does state that if they violate it, they will need to pay a penalty of another $25,000.  I'm sure they don't want to do that.

At least that industry has reopened...albeit with restrictions.  Hopefully that will be loosened further in the near future.