General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: When businesses don't comply with a mask mandate [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,055 posts)report it to your local health department. They are generally the enforcement body. Since it was an employee they are far more likely to be able to do something about it.
Check the local laws. Both the city and the county I live in adopted piggy-back laws requiring stores and other public places to enforce the mask order and imposing per violation fines. If you can recite the law, store managers are far more likely to act. (Otherwise they say there's nothing to do - but places with the piggy-back laws are generally required to enforce them to the same extent they enforce bans on indoor smoking.)
Then - report it as far up the chain as you can go if it is not a mom-and-pop store. Tell them you can't afford to shop there if they care so little about your health - and the health of the employees. Let them know you have filed a report with the local health department. If you have a loyalty account, it is helpful to let them know the number, especially if you have a history lf giving them business.
Keep filing reports. I know that the fact that I regularly file reports played a role in the piggyback order from county health department because my spouse is on the board of health. The state order really didn't have any teeth (since it ordered people, not businesses to comply). They got frustrated with increasing non-compliance after very good initial compliance. Now they ahve a rule that has teeth.
No. You are not making too big of a deal out of it. Enforcement by local businesses is a matter of life and death. Places that enforce the mask orders have near perfect compliance - adjacent stores where the businesses have conveyed the message that masks are not really required have less than 50% compliance. Less than 50% is not going to significantly decrease the death rate.