Commissioner Didier’s mask protest tops Franklin County complaints to WA state

County Commissioner Clint Didier’s public and ongoing protest against a mask mandate is leading the list of complaints to the state from Franklin County.

The Washington state’s Department of Labor and Industries has received more complaints about Franklin County government than any other employer in the county.

The others were private businesses, such as restaurants and stores. The next most were five complaints about Yoke’s Fresh Market in Pasco.

Of the complaints filed about the county since the mandate went into effect Aug. 23, most named Didier in particular, according to documents obtained by the Tri-City Herald under the state’s Public Records Act.

Didier’s refusal to wear a mask resulted in 15 of the 76 Franklin County complaints filed with L&I.

Gov. Jay Inslee issued the order as the delta variant of COVID-19 took hold, and while the case rate in Franklin County is starting to dip, it still remains high.

Didier has refused to wear a mask since the state began requiring people to wear them inside buildings. He has said he has a medical condition that prevents him from wearing one but also has refused to join public meetings remotely.

However, when the mask mandate was in place previously, Didier wore a bandana around his face and also logged in remotely for public sessions.

His refusal to wear a mask has led to a couple of hostile meetings, including one that prompted Commissioner Brad Peck to walk out because he said it would be an illegal session if they continued.

The state has received no complaints since the end of August on any public agencies in Benton County.

Overall, however, complaints about Benton County stores and businesses far outnumber complaints in Franklin County.

In all, customers and employees have submitted 455 complaints since Aug. 23.

Of those, Lu Lu Craft Bar and Kitchen led with 48 complaints, Sterling’s Restaurant had 36 complaints and the Kennewick Ranch & Home store had 28, according to the state.

Didier’s protest

Didier, who is currently is the chairman of the three-person county commission, began leading the meetings without a mask the day after the mandate was reinstated in late August.

He was joined by dozens of audience members without a mask, and a majority of the people who spoke during that two-hour meeting supported Didier’s position.

“I know the Legislature supposedly gave (Gov. Jay Inslee) this authority, as citizens don’t accept that,” Didier said during the meeting. “We want civil disobedience in this room to make a point. We cannot have our God-given liberties taken away by a governor!”

In a following meeting, Didier compared the fight to civil rights leader Rosa Parks.

The complaints to the state were all filed anonymously through the state’s system to report businesses violating COVID-19 orders. The violations are collected and sent to L&I to be investigated.

“Like any other business or organization, the county is required to protect its employees and may be subject to a citation should their employees be exposed to an unmasked person,” said Matt Ross with L&I.

In most cases, the department starts with explaining the mask mandate and why it’s necessary and for most cases that works. When it doesn’t, the department can start a more formal process.

The department wouldn’t need additional complaints before it takes action, but they would take any more into account, Ross said.

Labor and Industries has issued fines previously when companies have violated COVID-19 safety rules. Evans Fruit Co. in the Yakima area was fined more than $150,000 after not following masking and social distancing rules in October 2020.

The fine came after the third time the company was cited for not following the rules. Previously, the company was fined $6,600.

In Franklin County’s case, L&I reached out to find out information, but they haven’t heard back from county officials. No formal letter has been sent yet.

If a fine is issued, it would be up to the county to pay it.

Didier has promised to pay any fine issued to him.

The complaints

Of the 15 complaints about Franklin County, a third came after the initial contentious commissioner meeting on Aug. 24, and 11 people mentioned Didier by name and nearly all of them referred specifically to the commissioner meetings.

One person pointed out that Didier, along with his fellow commissioners, also are members of the county’s Board of Health.

“People are also worried that seeing these people of authority and power, and especially those who are on the board of health, not wearing masks indoors despite the mandate will result in more people in the community refusing to comply with the order that went into effect,” the complaint said.

Another person pointed out that they are afraid to attend the meetings in person because of the crowd of unmasked people potentially packing the commissioner meeting room.

They noted that Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond has said he won’t enforce any of the state’s mandates. Instead, he suggested people file complaints with the prosecutor through a state law that allows citizens-initiated criminal prosecutions.

Others were frustrated that Didier got to break the rules without any sign of punishment.

This story was originally published October 13, 2021 at 12:57 PM.