H-E-B’s Masking Red Tape

Texas is one of 20 states where COVID-19 cases have spiked since the state’s reopening. And while the Lone Star state experienced a record number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations earlier this week, shoppers are no longer required to wear masks in businesses throughout most of  Texas, including grocery stores such as San Antonio-based H-E-B.

In March, H-E-B began encouraging customers to wear face coverings, but on June 2, the company no longer required face masks to shop in its stores, though it continued to urge shoppers to do so. The looser protocols, sparked an online petition calling for the grocer to make face coverings mandatory for shoppers, reported San Antonio Express-News, which says the social media-circulated petition had more than 23,000 signatures as of June 16.

In response to the petition, H-E-B officials told local San Antonio news station KSAT that while they wish all customers would wear a mask, enforcing that rule is tricky, because the state has blocked local governments from mandating face coverings.

“The petition is well-intentioned but it’s more complicated than that. Without any guidance or rules from the local government like we had a couple of weeks ago, there is nothing to enforce,” Dya Campos, director of public affairs for H-E-B, told KSAT. “We would have to call [police] for every conflict and use illegal trespass. It’s very difficult to deny entry. We request all customers wear masks and encourage it with messaging.”

But yesterday masks were back in play—at least for some H-E-B stores—when Judge Nelson Wolff of Bexar County, Texas, signed a new order making face coverings mandatory. Shoppers at H-E-B stores and other Bexar County businesses will be required to wear masks starting June 22.

“The action I’m taking today may be pushing the legal bounds a little bit, but our attorneys believe we can defend this order in court,” said the Judge speaking from the Bexar County Commissioners Court on June 17. His commentary made the NBC Nightly News, which further reported that the governor of Texas had rejected calls from nine of the state’s mayors asking to make masks mandatory.

While individuals won’t face fines for not wearing a mask under Wolff’s new order mandating face coverings for all businesses where social distancing is not possible, businesses caught in violation of the order would be subject to a fine of up to $1,000.