Monticello restaurant to give up profits, fully comply with executive orders in settlement with Attorney General's office

Cornerstone Café will pay State $10,000, giving up the profits it earned while operating in violation of executive orders

Jan 13, 20210

January 12, 2021 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that his office has reached a settlement with Cornerstone Café in Monticello, resolving the lawsuit that the State filed against it for violating the ban on indoor, on-premises dining in Governor Tim Walz’s Executive Order 20-99, as extended and modified by Executive Order 20-103. By the terms of a consent judgment accepted today by Wright County District Court, Cornerstone will:

• Pay $10,000 to the State of Minnesota, giving up the profits that Cornerstone made while operating in violation of the executive orders;

• “Fully comply” with Executive Orders 20-99 and 20-103 and all future executive orders pertaining to bars and restaurants.

If Cornerstone violates any of the terms of the settlement, it is liable for a civil penalty of $25,000 to the State of Minnesota.

All funds received in this settlement go to the State of Minnesota General Fund, not the Attorney General’s Office.

On December 18, Attorney General Ellison’s office sued Cornerstone Café for openly violating the ban on indoor on-premises dining in Governor Tim Walz’s Executive Order 20-99. As modified and extended by Executive Order 20-103. On December 21, the office filed for a temporary restraining order against Cornerstone, which the court granted on December 22.

“I thank this establishment for agreeing to meet its responsibility to help all Minnesotans stop the spread of COVID-19 and congratulate it on rejoining the vast majority of Minnesota bars and restaurants that are already doing so,” Attorney General Ellison said. “It brings me no joy to bring enforcement actions, because our top priority has always been education and voluntarily compliance and enforcement has always been a last resort. Today’s settlement can be a sign to the very small handful of establishments that are violating the executive orders that compliance is still available to them.”