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ST. PAUL 鈥� The former owner of Iron Waffle Coffee Co. in Lake Shore, Minnesota, lost in court again last month in a ruling issued as part of a lawsuit brought by the state after repeated violations of pandemic-era executive orders.

Ramsey County Judge Laura E. Nelson granted the in favor of the Minnesota Department of Health, determining the facts of the case prompting the suit were undisputed.

The case hinged on the fact defendant Stacy Stranne repeatedly opened the coffee shop and restaurant for business after the revocation of her food and beverage license by the health department. The revocation came after Stranne failed to correct violations observed by a health department employee, including multiple employees not wearing masks and allowing indoor dining when such activity was restricted by executive order.

鈥淎lthough Iron Waffle has genuinely held disagreements with the reason their license was revoked, there is no dispute that they knew the license was revoked and yet they continued to operate,鈥� Nelson鈥檚 ruling stated.

As part of the order, Nelson granted the state鈥檚 motion for a permanent injunction against Stranne, preventing her from operating the Iron Waffle as a food and beverage establishment without first obtaining a license from the Minnesota Department of Health.

Stranne is no longer operating the business. On April 12, Iron Waffle announced in a Facebook post it would reopen April 15 under new management. A health department spokesperson confirmed the issuance of a new food and beverage license to S and S Waffle and Coffee LLC, a Pillager-based company that filed as a Minnesota business Feb. 1.

Nelson also ordered Stranne to pay a $9,500 administrative penalty to the health department and allowed the state to file a future motion seeking reimbursement for litigation expenses.

Attorney Richard Dahl, Stranne鈥檚 attorney, declined to comment when reached by phone Wednesday, Aug. 17, on whether his client plans to pursue an appeal. According to Minnesota Court Rules, those wishing to file an appeal generally have 60 days after the entry of a judgment to do so.

Dahl previously argued the revocation of Iron Waffle鈥檚 license was improper for multiple reasons, including: the health department did not serve Stranne the revocation notice in person; the Office of Administrative Hearings, which handles appeals for licensure actions, did not have the power to hear such matters while the state of emergency was in place; the health department lacked standing to pursue the revocation on the basis of an executive order or under the Minnesota Emergency Management Act; and both the health department and Office of Administrative Hearings lacked authority to continue the revocation after Gov. Tim Walz declared an end to the state of emergency.

These arguments were rejected by both the district and appeals courts as not relevant to the matter at hand 鈥� whether the business operated without a license. The Minnesota Supreme Court also denied a petition for review based on similar arguments in May.

Dahl also submitted several exhibits throughout the course of the court case disputing the nature, scope and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the order, Nelson included a footnote to the heading 鈥淧rocedural History and Uncontested Facts鈥� explaining the defendant鈥檚 differing opinion on the facts of the pandemic.

鈥淒efendant cites the opinion of Dr. Scott Jensen to support their view of Covid-19 and the appropriateness of the governmental response to it, including the executive orders that were at issue in MDH鈥檚 decision to revoke its food-and-beverage license,鈥� the footnote stated.

A January 2021 affidavit signed by Jensen was among the material submitted by Dahl.

During a May 18 hearing on the state鈥檚 motion for summary judgment, of the health department, Assistant Attorney General Kaitrin Vohs and the judicial system, lobbing accusations of dishonesty and threatening prosecution of state officials should Dahl work for a Republican attorney general in the future.

The lawsuit 鈥� first initiated in December 2020 鈥� was the next step at the time after failed to prevent the business from disobeying the executive orders. The health department after she failed to correct the violations.

Judges presiding over the case granted the state鈥檚 motions for both a temporary injunction and a for Stranne continuing to open and sell food and beverages, despite not having a license. 鈥� $2,000 for each day the health department documented the Iron Waffle was open after the license revocation.

CHELSEY PERKINS, community editor, may be reached at 218-855-5874 or chelsey.perkins@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at .