Woman Freaks Out After Refusing to Wear Face Mask at Store, Threatens to Sue: ‘You’re Discriminating Against Me’
A woman recorded herself having a public freakout after a store refused to let her enter without a face mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.
After being told that a mask is necessary to enter Gelson’s Market in Dana Point, California, the woman, who identified herself as Shelley Lewis, asked to speak with the manager.
The employee also offered to provide Lewis with a mask, but she refused, declaring, “I’m not wearing a mask.”
Karen gets upset that a store won’t let her shop without a protective facemask. She then tried to pretend like she’s the victim, despite the store giving her options. This is pure arrogance. https://t.co/qgFLhKjgxd #COVIDIDIOTS #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/OXV4EQLOgD
— Khary Penebaker (@kharyp) May 17, 2020
As the manager approached Lewis, she claimed, “I have a medical condition that I’m not allowed to wear a mask and I’m not required by HIPAA rules or regulations to disclose that.”
The manager then offered to shop for the woman, but she responded, “I have private things to get that maybe I don’t want you to see.”
“I can’t let you in the store without a mask,” he stated.
“You’re discriminating against me now, do you know that? You’re discriminating against me,” she shot back, before again refusing the manager’s offer to shop for her.
Lewis then threatened to file a lawsuit against the store and demanded a business card for the store’s corporate office.
As the employee from the start of the video started dancing while disinfecting a shopping cart, Lewis remarked, “You’re pretty chipper … Why are you happy?”
The employee explained that he was a bartender who lost his job due to the coronavirus pandemic, but now has a job at the store, which makes him happy.
“Well good, I mean, I’m glad you guys think it’s OK to like infringe on people’s rights here,” she complained. “You’re infringing on people’s rights.”
The video went viral online, receiving over 60,000 likes on Reddit alone.
According to news reports, Lewis’ Facebook profile — which has since been taken offline — described her as a “flat earther.”
A Shelley Lewis is listed on the Flat Earth International Conference website as a speaker and “a passionate truther.”
This month, a similar incident took place, with another woman who also went viral for refusing to wear a face mask at Trader Joe’s.
The woman took of her face mask at the check out and refused to put it back on, making comments like, “I’m uncomfortable wearing a mask,” “It’s unhealthy for me,” “They’re bogus rules,” and “I’m not endangering you because I’m a healthy person.”
She made an update video a week after the incident, claiming to have experienced a “sore throat and lymph nodes” since.
