Mask-Prohibiting North Shore Tax Business Owner Fined $136K​

LYNN, MA — A North Shore business owner is facing more than $136,000 in fines for refusing to implement coronavirus mask guidelines and other pandemic safety measures.

The U.S. Department of Labor said in a statement that Liberty Tax Service owner Ariana Murrell-Rosario not only refused to enforce the state mask mandate, but she also violated federal workplace safety guidelines by prohibiting her employees and customers from wearing them.

Murrell-Rosario put up signs in her Lynn office that read: "Masks are not allowed in the office."

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also said Murrell-Rosario refused to follow physical distancing and other preventative measures against the virus.

While Murrell-Rosario is fighting the massive fine, she is defiant in her right to prohibit the masks — arguing they may contribute to the spread of diseases such as COVID-19, bacterial infections, sinus infections, herpes and even HIV.

"I believe the masks are actually the source — the potential source — of the spreading," she told CBS Boston. "There could be HIV virus on those masks, herpes, hepatitis viruses. ... We work extensively with the public. We cannot afford to have people out sick."

OSHA said it opened the investigation into Liberty Tax Service on March 17 following a complaint.

The investigation found employees were required to work long stretches next to each other without masks or 6 feet of distance, there was improper ventilation in the office and Liberty Tax Service failed to put in place physical barriers, pre-shift health screenings, enhanced cleaning practices and "other methods to reduce the potential for person-to-person transmission of the virus."

"This employer's willful refusal to implement basic safeguards places her employees at an increased risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus," said OSHA Regional Administrator Galen Blanton in a statement. "Stopping the spread of this virus requires business' support in implementing COVID-19 prevention programs, and ensuring that staff and customers wear face coverings and maintain physical distance from each other."

The statement said the fines are part of a national coronavirus workplace safety enforcement campaign that began on March 12. Federal law states that companies cannot retaliate against employees who file complaints about unsafe work conditions.

Murrell-Rosario has 15 business days to appeal the $136,532 in fines.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)