Federal court class action lawsuit challenging Nassau mask ban should be dismissed, county lawyers argue in court filings

A class action lawsuit in federal court alleging that Nassau County’s new mask ban discriminates against people with disabilities should be dismissed because the plaintiffs suffered no harm as a result of the ban, a Nassau County attorney argued in newly filed court documents.

The Albany-area advocacy group Disability Rights New York filed suit in federal court in Central Islip last month on behalf of two anonymous Nassau residents, claiming the county’s mask ban discriminates against people with disabilities by denying them equal access to public life.

The lawsuit, which names Nassau County and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman as defendants, seeks a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction against the ban.

In a response filed this week, the Nassau County Attorney’s Office said the residents who filed suit did not have legal standing to file a lawsuit against the county because they had not experienced discrimination under the law. Moreover, there is no conflict between the Americans with Disabilities Act, “which is silent on the issue of masks,” and the county’s mask ban, the response said.

“It should be pointed out from the outset that the plaintiffs are not entitled to bring this action, since they are not entitled to [Mask Transparency Act]which contains an explicit exception stating that the law ‘does not apply to face coverings worn to protect the health and safety of the wearer,’ such as the masks worn by the plaintiffs,” says a memorandum opposing the motion for a preliminary injunction from the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office. “So while the plaintiffs fill their brief with speculation and ideas about possible harms that could be caused to them by NASSAU, they are unable to provide any specific examples of such harms that have actually occurred since the MTA was passed, likely because the plaintiffs are specifically exempt under the law.”

The mask ban makes it a misdemeanor – punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or a year in jail – for someone to wear a mask or other face covering in public to conceal their identity. The measure exempts people who wear masks for health, safety, “religious or cultural reasons, or for the peaceful observance of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event at which masks or face coverings are customarily worn.”

Nassau County police made their first arrest for a mask ban last month, charging 18-year-old Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo of Hicksville with violating the ban and other misdemeanors after someone called police to report him walking down a Levittown street wearing a black ski mask. Police said they found him tucking a 14-inch knife into his waistband and told police he had the knife and mask “to rob someone.”

The county argued in its memo to maintain the mask ban: “There is a strong public interest in enforcing the [Mask Transparency Act] as it is intended as a crime prevention measure implemented to better protect the public of NASSAU.”

Nicole Fuller is Newsday’s chief crime reporter. She started working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.