BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — As a result of Governor Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, 15 to 20 different local restaurants are taking a stand with possible legal action. 23ABC's Bayne Froney spoke with KC Steakhouse, one place looking to take legal action against the governor, as they believe that this stay-at-home order is going to hurt a lot of businesses, especially restaurants.
“I’m scared for this industry and what is going to happen to all of these locally owned businesses,” said Cassie Bittle, co-owner of KC Steakhouse.
Sunday night, Governor Newsom enforced a stay-at-home order for some counties in California, causing businesses, such as restaurants, to no longer operate outdoors, and therefore only allow for take out.
Cassie Bittle, co-owner of KC Steakhouse said that this stay-at-home order doesn’t make sense.
“In my opinion, the spikes that we are seeing are from families gathering from within their own homes,” added Bittle.
This is why KC Steakhouse along with 15 to 20 other local restaurants including Hungry Hunter and Wickies are working towards taking legal action.
“We have no problem with any of the safety guidelines that have been put into place. We are agreeing to do the social distancing, we are agreeing to do all of the sanitation and wear the face masks. We are just asking that the governor show us the data that shows that restaurants in our sector are the spread of this,” said Bittle.
As of right now, no official action has been taken, but Bittle says that they are working with lawyers and claim that they cannot be shutdown without compensation.
“We have sought out legal counsel as well because at this point we have exhausted all resources, we’ve done what we could, we followed all of the guidelines for eight months now, we have been on this roller coaster of new regulations and new things that we have to comply with,” said Bittle.
For now, KC Steakhouse is staying positive and continues to ask for the community's support.
“We aren’t major corporations we are families that are working on a daily basis together to keep food on the table and to keep our community safe,” added Bittle.
KC Steakhouse will still be accepting take-out orders, but as of right now there is no exact date as to when they will officially take legal action.
