LONGVIEW, WA – A southwest Washington restaurant fined nearly $1 million for repeatedly violating the state’s indoor dining ban during the COVID-19 pandemic must pay the penalty, a state court of appeals ruled this week.

Stuffy’s II Restaurant in Longview, owned by Glenda and Bud Duling under Duling Enterprises LLC, owes $936,000 in fines — $18,000 for each of the 52 days Stuffy’s II remained open for indoor dining while an emergency proclamation banning it was in effect.

The three-judge panel determined that the restaurant’s willful violations of the emergency proclamation caused significant harm by repeatedly exposing Stuffy’s II employees to a potentially deadly disease. The court also found that Duling Enterprises failed to prove the fine amount was excessive.

The state Department of Labor and Industries fined Stuffy’s II Restaurant an initial total of $126,000 in January 2021 for violating then-Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency order banning indoor dining.

The penalty grew each day Stuffy’s II remained open after receiving the initial fine.

Inslee issued the proclamation in November 2020 in response to rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The Department of Labor and Industries separately issued a rule requiring all employers to comply with the conditions of operations laid out in Inslee’s proclamation.

Stuffy’s II was one of roughly 25 businesses in Washington fined by the Department of Labor and Industries for violating statewide COVID orders as of January 2021, and one of a handful of restaurants hit with a temporary restraining order from the state attorney general’s office requiring them to stop offering indoor dining.

The Dulings publicly boasted about intentionally violating the governor’s ban.

According to the appeals court decision, the Department of Labor and Industries calculated the fine for Stuffy’s II based on the severity of the offenses and the fact that the violations were willful.

The restaurant owners first appealed the state agency’s penalty to the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals, arguing the fine was excessive because they were unable to pay the large sum and there was “minimal harm done” by the violations.

The board upheld the fine and the Dulings appealed to Cowlitz County Superior Court.

After a Cowlitz County Superior Court judge also ruled in February 2024 that the fines were justified, the restaurant owners sought review by the state Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals issued its ruling on Tuesday, affirming the decisions of the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and Cowlitz County Superior Court.

While Duling Enterprises submitted tax returns from 2020 and 2021 to show that Stuffy’s II operated at a loss in 2020 and was unable to pay the fine, the appellate court ruled that a corporation’s inability to pay a fine doesn’t automatically make it excessive.

“Such a harsh consequence may be warranted in light of the egregiousness of the violation,” the Court of Appeals states in its ruling.

Stuffy’s II has been closed since Aug. 4 due to a fire that broke out in the restaurant’s kitchen.

“The road ahead won’t be easy or quick — it’s going to take time, patience, and a lot of work. But we’re committed to rebuilding, picking up the pieces, and coming back stronger than ever,” the restaurant stated in a social media post on Aug. 8.

Duling Enterprises did not respond to a request for comment on the appeals court decision.

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