Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Controversial Mask Ban in Nassau County, New York

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Nassau County, New York’s Mask Transparency Act, which bans wearing a face mask in public in certain contexts, is unconstitutional and discriminatory toward people with disabilities.

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The 20-page lawsuit against Nassau County and county executive Bruce Blakeman was filed after Disability Rights New York (DRNY) sent a letter on August 14 detailing its concerns about the impact of the mask ban on those with disabilities. Though DRNY requested a stay in enforcement of the mask ban, which was signed into law on August 14, 2024, and a meeting to discuss the resolution of its concerns, the organization received no response, the complaint says.

According to the lawsuit, Nassau County has a mandatory obligation to refrain from passing local laws inconsistent with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal or state statutes.

“Local laws that abrogate or curtail rights conferred by federal law are inconsistent with federal law, conflict preempted, and rendered invalid by operation of law,” the lawsuit states.

The mask ban was enacted in the wake of a series of events involving individuals wearing masks in public, and despite concerns that the bill, which supporters say could be a crime deterrent, could lead to increased racial profiling and discrimination. Power to enforce the mask ban, namely deciding the rationale of why a person is wearing a mask, rests with Nassau County police officers, who the lawsuit says have “no standard” to determine whether a masked person meets the law’s exception for masks worn for health reasons.

One of the pseudonymous plaintiffs, a longtime Nassau County resident and disability rights advocate, has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and asthma and faces a higher risk of contracting airborne illnesses, from which it takes them longer to recover, the case states. The plaintiff wears a mask to protect themselves from illness wherever they go in public, and says in the suit that they are “fearful of police interaction, arrest, and detainment because they wear a facemask in Nassau County.”

“While in public and private places, strangers have come up to G.B. since August 5, 2024, to ask them if they are sick, if they are healthy or not, and to ask why they are wearing a facemask,” the complaint says, stressing that the plaintiff fears being arrested “just for wearing a facemask for their health.”

The second plaintiff has been diagnosed with variable immunodeficiency, kidney disease, post-viral syndrome and a respiratory condition and, like the first plaintiff, faces a higher risk of contracting an airborne illness and facing medical complications or a longer recovery time should they get sick, the suit continues. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the plaintiff continues to wear a face mask in public, and in recent weeks has “received sneering looks from other members of the public when they are wearing a mask,” the lawsuit says.

“S.S. fears harassment and assault from anti-mask people in Nassau County,” the suit reads. “S.S. fears being stopped and questioned by police.”

At an hours-long public meeting on August 5, the Nassau County Legislature allowed each attendee three minutes to speak about the proposed mask ban, the filing shares. Supporters of the ban, who were allowed to speak first, “spoke of hate speech, genocide, the Holocaust, criminal thugs, and terrorism,” and were allowed to exceed their allotted three minutes, the case says.

According to the complaint, those who spoke against the mask ban were threatened with removal from the meeting if they spoke beyond three minutes. Nassau County police reportedly arrested an individual with a disability who was wearing a mask at the meeting.

“People wearing masks were harassed by members of the public sitting in the gallery,” the filing says. “Non-masked people coughed on, yelled at, and threatened people wearing masks.”

The lawsuit relays that the mask ban prohibits the wearing of any mask or facial covering whereby the face or voice is disguised “with the intent to conceal the identity of the wearer.” The mask ban does not apply to facial coverings worn to protect the health and safety of the wearer, for religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event, the filing states.

The law stipulates that a law enforcement officer may require someone wearing a mask to remove it during traffic stops or in the event the officer has reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, the suit adds. Per the case, violations of the mask ban are a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to a year of imprisonment.

The mask ban lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who wear masks while in Nassau County, New York, because of their disability or to accommodate others with disabilities.

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