Bakery Ordered to Pay $135,000 for Denying Wedding Cake to Lesbian Couple

[DrummondStreet]

But Drummond, this is a different matter : we are here talking about a licence. A licence is the Government's permission to do something or other (and I dare say it's a nice little earner for the Government).

In the US, food licenses are issued by the health department. I assume license fees are used to offset the costs of health inspection. Despite these regulations, there are food borne illnesses and deaths every year in the US. Many incidents are tied to contaminated food at restaurants. I would hate to think how awful the conditions of restaurant kitchen would be if there was no regulation.

The policy that bakeries (or any business) cannot discriminate against customers is unrelated to the health licensing.

Edited to add. Food licenses are supposedly easy to get as long as the applicant has received the requisite training.

[DrummondStreet]

My explanations might have been a bit confusing. But to clarify, there are multiple reasons why a business needs government permission to open.

1. For those selling food or alcohol, licensing is required.
2. For any business, there are civil policies (mostly anti-discrimination laws) to which business owners must agree to adhere. And civil laws vary from state to state.


The process can become legally complex and a lot of new business owners hire an attorney to make sure they have all of their bases covered.

[Robert]

Hi Drummond. Point #2 puzzles me. Why should the bakers have to promise to obey the law? Surely that's understood? I mean, they don't have to promise not to disembowel their customers or put heroin in their cream cakes, do they?

[DrummondStreet]

Hi Drummond. Point #2 puzzles me. Why should the bakers have to promise to obey the law? Surely that's understood? I mean, they don't have to promise not to disembowel their customers or put heroin in their cream cakes, do they?

It might just be strategy to familiarize new business owners with employment laws. Saves a lot of headaches (i.e. lawsuits) down the road.

[c.d.]

Hello Robert,

The owners of the bakery would have had to have gotten a license from the state of Oregon in order to operate their business. I would expect that there would be some sort of language that says by my signature I hereby agree to operate this business in accordance with the laws and regulations of the state of Oregon. It is illegal in Oregon for a business to discriminate based on sexual orientation. There you have it.

c.d.

[DrummondStreet]

I agree with what CD posted above.

After some digging (I'm not a business owner so I'm unaware of many of the policies) I found this website on business licensing.

https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/obtain-business-licenses-

Is it the business license rather than the food license, that bothers you Robert?

I'm not sure how business licensing originally came about, but tax evasion, undocumented workers, and unsafe products probably had a lot to do with it. The UK probably has a similar licensing process, but the "Wild West" atmosphere in the US produced a lot of dishonest and predatory business behavior which in turn prompted these legal hurdles.

A friend of mine started a business and getting the necessary permits was a complicated process. She worked closely with an attorney to make sure everything was done correctly.

[Oscar D'Oslavah]

I am not questioning whether there was illegality ... I am questioning whether the law is a good law. My opinion is that it isn't a good law ..

When I was young, we didn't have such laws. Business owners were free to put up signs saying "Whites only" or "No Jews." A black person who used the wrong water fountain could be jailed and/or beaten for it. Disneyland used to routinely turn away visitors with long hair ("hippies.") Black people got the worst of it, but there was also open discrimination against other groups--Jews, Hispanics, etc., and one of Mark Twain's short stories recalled a day when signs reading "No Irish" were common. I think most of us think that time is long past. I'm not yet 60 years old, but I went to racially segregated schools until I was 14. I do NOT want the US to go back to that sort of toxic environment. We really MUST (as the teachers say) learn to play nicely with others. Just MHO.