PHOENIX – Since opening in 2003, Sunny’s Hair and Wigs in Mesa, Arizona, has developed a diverse customer base that includes many people who have lost their hair during chemotherapy to fight cancer.
Owner Lisa Memberr’s customers come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, represented by the black, brown and white skin tones of the models in her store who display wigs ranging from blonde to black.
“My clientele is very diverse. I don’t just have Caucasians, I have African Americans, I have Asians, I have Latin Americans,” Memberr said.
Memberr, who is African American, was surprised when his store was targeted by the 23-year-old founder of an anti-mask group. Ethan Schmidt confronts businesses in the region that require customers to wear masks to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and he claims he faces discrimination.
In a video Schmidt posted to his Instagram page, he repeatedly refuses the store manager’s request to put on a mask even after being told the requirement is to protect customers undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
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Schmidt tells the manager he doesn’t wear masks because he has a “medical and religious exemption” and threatens to ruin the store’s business by posting his name, phone number and address on the Internet.
“OK, well, you’re going to blow yourself up all over the internet. You’re going to get a bunch of calls here soon,” Schmidt said in the video.
Since Schmidt posted the video, which has been viewed over 600 times, Sunny’s Hair and Wigs has received numerous harassing phone calls, some with swear words and fanatic language. Memberr reported the calls to the police.
“This is America. Fight for your freedom, or we will shut down your (expletive) business. We are not Muslims. You are not forcing people to wear face masks,” a caller said in a voicemail message. that Memberr shared with The Arizona Republic, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
Another caller told a store worker he called from Massachusetts after watching Schmidt’s video and sharing it “with everyone I know.”
“I am a citizen calling on behalf of a video that I saw of you violating the medical, religious and constitutional rights of another fellow citizen,” the caller said.
When the store clerk asked the appellant what religious rights he was referring to, the appellant replied, “Christianity”. The employee replied, “I am a Christian.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t be breaking… the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the appellant said.
In an interview, Schmidt said he believed the store had discriminated against his religion and health condition. He said he was a Christian. He refused to disclose his state of health.
Schmidt said he was the founder of the Anti-maskers Club, one of the many groups that have popped up on the Internet. He said he posted “hundreds” of videos of himself doing the same at other companies.
“People must respect my constitutional rights, my freedom of religion,” Schmidt said. “It’s new territory, and it’s called mass discrimination. It’s no different than saying, ‘Oh, you’re black, you can’t come to my store.’ “
Legal experts said the argument did not hold water.
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“This argument that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 means that individuals have a religious or medical exemption from corporate mask mandates is specious. It is utterly specious,” said Jennifer Piatt, researcher at the Center for Public Arizona State University Health Law and Policy. and Senior Counsel in the Western Region Office of the Network for Public Health Law.
Companies that continue to require customers to wear masks have become easier targets for protests as authorities lift mask warrants.
“If a lot of businesses don’t need masks and some small parts of businesses need masks, I could see how that could provide some exposure for those businesses to these kinds of actions,” Piatt said.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Title 2 of the law prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, race, national origin and other protected classes in “places of accommodation” such as cinemas, hotels, restaurants and other companies, Piatt said.
“So you couldn’t put up a sign saying that no one of this religion is allowed,” Piatt said. “It’s totally forbidden by Title 2.”
But that’s not what happens when companies require customers to wear masks, Piatt said.
“Companies institute a neutral and generally enforceable requirement that applies to all who seek service in this place of business,” Piatt said. “They don’t do anything discriminatory. They don’t discriminate on the basis of religion.”
Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of religion, race, national origin and other protected classes, Piatt said.
This article states that reasonable accommodation must be provided to people with different religious beliefs, Piatt said.
Anti-mask groups “pick” Title 7’s reasonable accommodation provision and mistakenly apply it to Title 2, Piatt said.
On March 25, Governor Doug Ducey signed an executive order that essentially allows companies to no longer follow mask mandates. The order gives businesses the ability to continue to require customers to wear masks and to deny service to people who refuse to comply with their policies.
On May 13, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines saying fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks in most indoor environments unless companies require it.
Following directives from the CDC, Mesa revised its policy on May 24, making the wearing of masks optional in all public buildings owned by the city.
Memberr said she keeps the policy in place at her store to protect customers undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.
“A sign on our door explains that we have clients whose health is compromised, and we try to provide them with a healthy environment,” Memberr said.
Infected people who do not wear masks can transmit the coronavirus to people with compromised immune systems, such as people undergoing cancer treatment or who may be unvaccinated for other reasons, said Julia Raifman, assistant professor of Law, Policy, and Health Management at Boston University School of Public Health.
COVID-19 vaccines are less effective for people who are immunocompromised, Raifman said.
Raifman oversees a database project that tracks policies implemented in response to the pandemic.
“I absolutely think federal and state policies play a very important role in shaping attitudes towards policies,” Raifman said. “We see a lot of anecdotal evidence that businesses and employees don’t feel empowered to make the healthiest decisions for them personally or for their communities without federal guidance and state guidance on masks. “
Memberr said she was trying to deal with the anti-masking harassment her business continues to experience.
“They kept insisting that they were going to shut down my business and not on such good terms,” she said.
Memberr said the phone calls had a negative impact on her and her staff. Her manager had trouble sleeping and an employee who was insulted began to cry. Memberr postponed a trip to visit relatives because she didn’t want to leave her staff to cope with the harassment on their own.
“Emotionally and even psychologically, it really put a heavy load and an unnecessary burden on us,” Memberr said. “There has to be a stop to this, and it is unfortunate that he was allowed to reach this level.”
Follow Daniel Gonzalez on Twitter: @azdangonzalez.
