A Yakima area gym owner was fined $38,556 by the Washington Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) for staying open and operating safely during the pandemic. The gym owner appealed the decision to the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals (BIIA) and won a reversal of the decision.

The appeals board ruled that L&I did not show sufficient evidence that the gym, Anytime Fitness’s employees were at risk of exposure to COVID-19.

In what could be the canary in the coal mine for many businesses, the ruling shows that there are limits to the fines that L&I can assess. L&I’s overly aggressive enforcement of the state mandated lockdowns and arbitrary rule application has created a large amount of confusion in the business community about what is permitted and what is not.

In a statement to the Yakima Herald, Scott Brumback, attorney for AnyTime Fitness described L&I’s behavior, “They were acting like bullies toward my client. They fined him nearly $40,000. They were trying to make an example of him, and he stood up to them.” A copy of the decision can be found here.

In response L&I says that they had the evidence to fine the gym and plan on reviewing the case.

This is not the first gym that has be targeted by L&I. On December 4^th a gym in Graham, WA was ordered to close, despite operating with the same COVID-19 safety procedures that many other businesses operate under.

This inconsistent application of the rules is the problem when government starts picking winners and losers in business. Similar to the private vs public construction or new vs existing construction problems earlier in the year, either a business can operate safely or it cannot.

The state needs to stay out of picking which businesses can operate and which cannot and focus on providing guidelines on how to keep employees and customers safe.

L&I has 20 days to appeal the decision.