The owner of hookah lounges in Bethesda and Rockville is suing Montgomery County, accusing the county of unfairly discriminating against his business through its COVID-19 restrictions.
Ahmed Kamel, the owner of Avenue Hookah Lounge in Bethesda and Vibes Hookah Lounge in Rockville, filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court late last month. He argues that a county order setting out COVID-19 restrictions is unconstitutional because it lets restaurants and bars serve customers indoors, but does not allow hookah lounges to do the same.
He also alleges that even after he heard from the county what he was allowed to do, and he followed the guidance, each of his hookah lounges was fined for noncompliance.
Asked about the lawsuit last week, Mary Anderson, a spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in an email that she had not seen it and couldn’t comment.
Someone who answered the phone at the County Attorney’s Office on Friday referred questions to Associate County Attorney Hilary Taylor. Taylor could not be reached for comment.
On June 19, the county entered its second phase of reopening, in which restaurants could start serving customers at 50% capacity indoors. The order initially allowed customers to smoke inside cigar bars, but an amended version that took effect Aug. 5 limits cigar bars, hookah bars and vape shops to retail sales only. Smoking onsite is not allowed.
In the lawsuit, filed on July 29, Kamel says he called the county’s 311 information hotline after it entered phase 1 of reopening in early June. He says he was told he could operate outside if six-foot distancing was maintained and his businesses complied with all guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Court documents state that Kamel called 311 again later that month when the county entered phase 2 and was told that he could reopen his businesses if he operated at less than 50% capacity inside and followed CDC guidelines.
Kamel reopened both lounges while observing the capacity limit, requiring customers to wear masks except while seated and keeping tables at least six feet apart, his lawsuit says. The complaint states that both lounges implemented strict cleaning protocols and all employees wore masks and gloves at all times.
However, a county health inspector visited the Rockville lounge on July 3 and told Kamel he couldn’t serve customers inside, according to documents. Kamel was fined $500 for violating the county’s order. He was fined another $500 on July 18 for operating the Bethesda lounge in violation of the order, documents state.
Keith Havens, a Rockville attorney representing Kamel, told Bethesda Beat on Friday that the county’s order applies a different standard for restaurants than for hookah bars in trying to ensuring public safety during the pandemic.
“The fact that someone can walk into a bar and have a seat at the bar and have a beer or cocktail, but someone can’t walk into a hookah lounge and partake of a hookah seems to be somewhat disjointed,” he said.
“Right now, there’s a regulation on the [hookah] bars. We’re challenging that regulation and we’re asking the Circuit Court of Montgomery County to issue an order finding that it’s unconstitutional.”
Havens said he didn’t know the names of the two people from the county’s information line who told Kamel that he was allowed to reopen his businesses.
“They told him as long as he followed the guidelines of the CDC and the guidelines of the governor, or the county executive, relative to restaurants, he would be fine,” he said.
Havens said the county code requires hookah bars to have ventilation systems that are “far better than anywhere in the county” due to the smoke.
“So it’s far safer to be sitting in a hookah lounge smoking a hookah than it is to be sitting in a bar drinking a beer,” he said.
The lawsuit states that both of Kamel’s businesses are losing “substantial” revenue. Havens declined to say the specific amount his client was losing, but that he would be making considerably more if he were allowed to fully reopen.
“All he can do at this point is sell at the door supplies and hookahs, [but] not many hookahs are being purchased. Some supplies are being purchased, but it’s nowhere near the revenue he needs to generate,” he said.
Havens said Kamel wants a judge to find the county’s order unconstitutional, so he can reopen his businesses.
Havens has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, and he said the next step is to schedule a hearing on the injunction.
Dan Schere can be reached at daniel.schere@moco360.media