Floor & Decor

They called the police on me for LEGALLY opting not to wear a mask! Whether you agree with the mask mandate or not, most businesses still recognize and respect that there are legal exclusions in the orders. The exclusions include things such as medical conditions, children under a certain age, religous beliefs, people exercising, people eating, etc. The Executive order signed by the Mayor here locally (identical to most every other city's and state's orders) also states that whenever a customer in a store exerts said exemptions that they "should not be required to produce documentation or any other proof of a condition", and that "Businesses and organizations are entitled to rely on their customers' or patrons' statements about whether or not they are excepted from the Face Covering requirements, and businesses and organizations do not violate this Executive Order if they rely upon such statements". That last part is basically relieving the business of any potential fine or liability for not complying with the mandate when a customer chooses to exercise their RIGHTS. But earlier today Floor and Decor chose to ignore all of that by trampling all over my personal medical rights and civil liberties by picking and choosing which parts of the Executive Order they would have their employees enforce based on their own personal beliefs, laws be damned! The incident began immediately upon walking into the store. When the cashier noticed that my friend and I were not wearing masks she stated that we must put them on to enter the store. I told her that I had a medical condition that prevented me from wearing one, and my friend had Religous beliefs that prevented her from wearing one. This should have been the end of the conversation as it has been with every other store I've entered without a mask, and every other store that actually complies with the mandate in its entirety. The cashier basically said that she didn't care and repeated again that we should leave, and that she was calling a manager. Assuming that the manager would know that I was within my rights, and because I had driven a long distance to get here, I told the cashier that the manager could find me in the Vinyl flooring section if he wished to discuss the matter further, expecting that I would probably never really see him. To my surprise, the manager did appear a few minutes later. He again asked us to put the masks on or leave the store. We again exercised our exemption rights under the Executive Order, and he again asked us to leave stating that Floor and Decor had other alternatives to shopping in person. It was at this point that I asked my friend to turn on her cell phone video. While recording, I asked the manager a very specific question, "Are you denying us the right to shop because of my medical condition or my friends religous beliefs, both exempt from the mask mandate, or may we continue to shop peacefully"? For the camera, the manager stated that we may continue to shop without any further intimidation. That was great news, that was all we wanted! At this point though things were obviously a little awkward, so we really just wanted to finish our shopping and get out of there as quickly as possible because we felt like now every single employee was staring at us like we were Lepers. Little did we know that after being told by the Manager that we could shop in peace, and after allowing us to check out and spend our money, that the police would be waiting on us once we walked outside, like we were the ones that had committed a crime simply by asking the store keepers to respect and honor our rights under the law! Apparently the store manager was not speaking truthfully when he stated that we could continue shopping without further incident, but instead chose to attempt to escalate the harassment and embarrassment even further by contacting the local police department and trying to have my friend and I detained or arrested immediately upon exiting the store, and again, after having taken our money and leading us to believe everything was all right, simply because my friend and I chose not to allow their employees to force their will upon us! Fortunately, unlike the manager, the police officer was aware of the law and that we were well within our rights not to wear a mask, and made no attempt whatsoever to ID, harass, or detain us. The officer was polite and respectful (and was not wearing a mask) while informing us that he was sorry to have to approach us but needed to respond having been called to the store by the manager. Thank you so very much Hilliard Police Department for protecting the rule of law! As a professional Rehabber, Developer and local business owner, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars with Floor and Decor over the last few years, as well as referred dozens if not hundreds of customers to their store through my own business where many of their flooring and tile products are on display in our reception and office areas, but they will never receive another cent or referral from me until I receive an apology from this establishment for attempting to violate my medical and civil rights. I won't hold my breath based on the attitude and actions taken by the store, and along with seeing the other review where they've done this to someone else, but fortunately there are many other businesses that will welcome my dollars and referrals! You can find the Mayor's Executive Order in its entirety here: [*** Link removed ***]

unknown