After spending about an hour inside the store without a mask, a Bricomarché customer approached the checkout and was told that she had to buy a mask and put it on, otherwise she would not be served.
“The cashier said she would not serve me because she would lose her job, and that I could buy a mask and put it on before she rang up my purchases,” the woman recounts. “I explained that I had a certificate stating that I could not wear a mask and that I did not know what would happen to me if I put one on. I might only feel dizzy, or I might faint. I did not want to find out. The cashier did not want to look at the certificate. The manager who was called also said they had no right to check the certificate and confirmed that if the cashier sold goods to a customer without a mask, she could lose her job. I asked who could check the certificate in that case. They said the police. I asked them to call the police, but they replied that I had to do it myself. The police officers I called confirmed that my certificate was valid. Despite that, I was still not sold the goods,” the woman adds.
A representative of Bricomarché in Bolesławiec explained to us that he decided not to serve the woman because he wanted to protect the employees and customers in his store. He also added that the store has clearly visible notices informing customers of the obligation to cover their mouths and noses.
However, Bricomarché is apparently the only large store in Bolesławiec that does not have checkout areas shielded by plastic screens to protect employees when a person legally exempt from wearing a mask approaches the checkout. This raises the question of whether protecting employees and customers was really the issue when the customer was allowed into the store and no member of staff drew her attention to the lack of a mask during her nearly hour-long stay at Brico. Problems began only when she approached the checkout with her purchases.
“The first thing that catches the eye is the lack of protection for Bricomarché staff at the checkouts,” says Waldemar Sawicki, the district consumer ombudsman. “The second issue is the staff’s failure to act. Why did the staff let someone without a mask into the store at all? The customer might not have had a medical exemption, which the staff would not know. This was improper conduct by the store staff. At that point, even the Sanitary Inspectorate could have imposed a fine on them. The seller’s subsequent conduct is also incomprehensible. Why, after the police had checked the certificate and confirmed its validity, was the woman not allowed to leave with her purchases? And there is a question for the police. Why did they not initiate any action? There is a general rule: we wear masks everywhere. So when the police intervene and issue fines to people without masks in public spaces, except those entitled not to wear them, we cannot ultimately deprive this customer of the right to shop,” the ombudsman adds.
The ombudsman says that the customer should report the seller to the police for committing an offense. “The basis for this action is Article 135 of the Code of Petty Offenses,” the ombudsman explains.
Anyone engaged in selling goods at a retail business or a catering establishment who hides goods intended for sale from a buyer or deliberately refuses, without justification, to sell such goods is subject to a fine.
Article 135 of the Code of Petty Offenses
“Unfortunately, the regulations in this case are unclear, and it is possible that the police officers did not know how to interpret them,” the ombudsman says. “The question is how this law applies to people who are authorized not to wear masks. Article 46 bb of the Act on Preventing and Combating Infections and Infectious Diseases in Humans says that a seller has the right to refuse to sell to a person without a mask. The police were correctly called; they identified the customer’s exemption and confirmed that she was an individual customer who should have been treated differently. We must recognize that even though this person is authorized not to wear a mask for health reasons, she may still pose a risk, regardless of how one looks at it. Such staff have the right to be concerned about their health. The question is why the employer did not protect the employee in such circumstances from having to serve people who may legally not wear masks,” the ombudsman wonders.
The woman confirms that the police officers prepared a report, but she knows nothing about any fine.
“I have no information that the seller was fined,” the woman says. “They said my certificate was valid and that I absolutely should have been served. They also said they could not force the seller to ring up my purchases. One of the police officers went to the office with the store manager, and when they came out, the manager announced that I would not be served. He did not ask me to put on a mask. In the meantime, I heard employees making fun of me. I felt people staring at me. I left shaken and could not recover until evening. It was humiliating.”
“There was indeed an intervention concerning a woman without a mask in the store,” the police spokesperson reports. “The woman presented a medical certificate containing information about a contraindication to covering her mouth and nose for an extended period. The person responsible for the premises decided that, for the safety of employees and other customers, the woman would not be served,” says Anna Kublik-Rościszewska.
We asked the police spokesperson why the police did not issue the seller a fine. She replied that she needed to examine the matter more closely. We will publish her response as soon as it is sent to us.