COVID restrictions lawsuit overturned by Kentucky Supreme Court

The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling involving a northern Kentucky business and COVID-19 restrictions, saying the business had not suffered injuries as it claimed and had no standing to pursue their case.

Bean’s Café and Bakery was one of the businesses that sued Gov. Andy Beshear, Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Eric Friedlander and State Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack in 2020 over executive orders issued in response to the pandemic.

After the General Assembly enacted legislation in 2021 that limited the scope and time of emergency executive orders and allowed businesses to comply with either the governor’s orders or CDC guidance, whichever was less restrictive, Beans continued to pursue the case in Boone Circuit Court, with the judge ruling in favor of the business.

The SCOKY justices said that without any concrete actual or imminent injury on the part of Beans, the Boone Circuit Court had no jurisdiction to grant “relief.”

Read the rest at KY Today.