The owner of a Lincoln bowling alley and other businesses in Lancaster County are suing the city and several of its officials alleging they’ve been made into an unwilling arm of law enforcement for mask mandate compliance.

Benjamin Madsen, general manager of Madsen’s Bowling & Billiards, filed a class-action lawsuit last week against the city and its mayor, police chief and health director, alleging that they have no legal authority to issue civil penalties or shut down businesses that don’t follow the mandate. The bowling alley has also filed a $10 million claim against the city making the same allegations.

City officials and Madsen have been in a tug-of-war over the mandates. Police have issued citations against the bowling alley and the city briefly shut it down last month for violating coronavirus-related restrictions. City officials said the business wasn’t requiring employees or patrons to wear masks or enforcing social distancing requirements.

Lancaster County is the sole county where some “Phase 3” restrictions remain in place, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Service. The joint city-county health department has a mask mandate that’s separate from state rules.

Madsen’s attorney, Christopher Ferdico of Berry Law Firm, said city employees have been engaged in a policy of harassment “designed to stifle and discourage legitimate public debate,” while attempting to delegate police powers to businesses and to punish businesses for failing to enforce the mandate. The lawsuit seeks to suspend all enforcement of the city’s mandates, find them unlawful and award damages for lost profits.

More than 20 other businesses have joined the lead plaintiffs, as of Friday afternoon, and clients will be accepted until a court date is set, Ferdico told reporters in a Zoom news conference. However, those clients are not being publicly named for now because of the politics surrounding mandates.

“At the end of the day, businesses often want to be Switzerland,” he said. “Their goal is not to engage in politics. They just want an opportunity to fairly compete in the marketplace and provide their services and provide their goods and earn a living.”

Ferdico said some of the clients have been “doxed” – had their personal information such as home address disclosed as a form of harassment – for their positions and for supporting the lawsuit.

“The lawsuit is not about whether people should be wearing a mask or not wearing a mask,” Ferdico said. “This lawsuit is about whether or not the government is appropriately applying its power in mandating not only masks but certain aspects of enforcement that they are forcing on people instead of doing that enforcement themselves. As a practical matter, the City of Lincoln is delegating its police powers to private businesses, and that’s not the function of private business.”

Ferdico said enforcing the requirement is costing the businesses suing the city their clients, their goodwill and their money. Ultimately, he said the directed health measures – which the lawsuit contends are not lawful – are “killing” area businesses.

“The fundamental economic landscape of Lancaster County and the City of Lincoln is going to change because these businesses are no longer going to be able to exist,” Ferdico said.

Enforcement of the mandate has been inconsistent and focused on businesses instead of ticketing individuals, Ferdico said.

“If these were necessary and the city really intended to enforce it, they would enforce it against the individuals,” he said, noting that he was unaware of any tickets issued outside of Madsen’s establishment. “The city is clearly targeting certain classes of businesses while completely ignoring other classes of businesses.”

Find a copy of the class action complaint filed with the court at omahadailyrecord.com.

This report contains material from the Associated Press.