Michaels Stores review: I was banned from store after telling clerk I had medical exemption to wearing a mask ( 1 comment)

On August 1st, 2020, my wife and I entered the Michaels store about lunch time and she shopped for some time. My wife wore a covid mask and so did I but not fully covering my mouth and nose (Medical exemption for Chronic Asthma). We were very careful to maintain social distancing during our visit and there we very few people in the store. We were in the process of checking out at the front when a clerk stopped me and told me cover my mouth and nose with my mask which was low enough to allow me to breath from my mouth. Also I have a deviated septum and cannot fully breath out of my nose. When I wore a mask previously I passed out due to lack of oxygen and excess CO2 and hit my head on a store shelf but I was okay.

During checkout "Cort" the clerk told me to cover my nose with my mask and I told him directly of the Medical exemption. He said something to the effect that I had to wear the mask. Cort said, "we could check out this time with a warning." I told him that Oregon Governor Kate Brown executive order allowed for medical exemptions he told us that we could check out but had to leave the premise. I told him that I read the Oregon Governors Executive Order and that he should check it out for the medical exemption. At the same time we checked out our purchases and completed the transaction at the front counter, Cort told us we were banned from the store. As he walked away I asked for his name and he said "Cort" and I told him I would look into this matter matter with Michaels management. My name is Richard VonRoble at 2512 E. Evergreen Blvd, Vancouver, WA 98684 and my phone number is: [protected] and my email is [protected]@aol.com. I feel that the clerk "Cort" went beyond his authority to ban me from the store when I was well within Michaels published policies as I was wearing a mask and observed social distancing. Cort can certainly ask me to leave the store for any reason but I feel it was done in retaliation for my stating my right for Medical exemption under the Governors Order and also my right to be treated like everyone else via the Americans with Disabilities Act. I did not violate the Governors order nor Michaels store policies as observed (see photos) both on the store front and the Michaels website. It was embarrassing for Cort to ban us from the store for doing nothing wrong in front of other customers, please let me know if this is Michaels policy and if so please provide documentation on this policy of banning for Medical exemption. We make many purchases at the store to support my wifes custom baking business and we will be happy to take our business elsewhere unless we can obtain some fairness and equity on this matter. I would prefer to receive an email response to this complaint within a reasonable time. I am also a senior citizen and have never been asked to leave any establishment or been banned from any business all my life and it is an outrage that a clerk would do this to me. I would have expected him to allow us to exit the store and perhaps talked to us outside or referred me to a Manager. Overall I felt that although I am sure Corts intentions were not discriminatory he went beyond his authority, beyond Michaels policies, beyond the Oregon Governors order and issued a judgement on me without basis. I look forward to your prompt response.

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