WASHINGTON — Editor's Note: The video above is from Feb. 2 after Big Board was shut down by DC Health.
After fighting Mayor Muriel Bowser for months over D.C.'s vaccine and mask mandates, a D.C. sports bar may have gotten exactly what it wants.
On Monday, Big Board, located on H Street, Northeast, officially had its liquor license suspended for refusing to ask for proof of vaccination from its customers as well as not enforcing mask-wearing indoors for employees or customers.
The official ruling from the District's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) released Monday says:
"Because The Big Board’s ownership cannot be trusted to diligently comply with COVID-19 mitigation rules, the license shall be suspended until all mask wearing and proof of vaccine checking requirements at on-premise retailers regulated by ... ABRA are no longer in effect and have been repealed, amended, or superseded."
However, Bowser announced Monday morning at a news conference that as of Tuesday, D.C. businesses would not be required to ask for proof of vaccination, and on March 1, the indoor mask mandate at most indoor businesses (including bars and restaurants) would be dropped.
The mayor said the changes were made after COVID health data showed significant signs of improvement over the last few weeks, including a 95% reduction in hospitalizations since the height of the omicron wave in D.C.
"We do believe that we've gotten the push out of the vaccine requirement for indoor venues that we're going to get," Bowser said.
WUSA9 reached out to ABRA on Tuesday to see how the new guidance from the mayor impacts Big Board's suspension. A spokesperson said the suspension remains in place, but that the owners have the right to appeal.
"In light of modifications announced by Mayor Muriel Bowser yesterday, the respondent may request that the ABC Board modify the present Board Order," ABRA Chief of Staff Jared Powell said.
See where masks are still required starting in March:
Days after the city’s new laws went into effect, a WUSA9 investigation spot-checked 20 other businesses in all four quadrants of the city to find out how many of them were following the vaccine card entry mandate. Half of them did not check vaccination status in any form before allowing this reporter to enter, order and eat inside.
But none has been more openly defiant of the law than The Big Board.
The bar was ordered closed after repeated warnings and fines by the D.C. government for not checking vaccination cards of people who eat or drink inside
"When people ask me what are you going to get on the other side of this, I don’t know," Big Board owner Eric Flannery said in a speech to his customers after he was ordered to close that was tweeted out by The Daily Signal. "I just know that I’m doing the right thing, and this place is supposed to be open.”
While conservative politicians, including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), strongly supported Flannery, many of his employees did not.
In a post on Big Board's Facebook page that was later deleted, the author wrote:
“Not everyone that has worked at this establishment has the same views as management ... As much as there was no thought in posting on social about their political stance, the same amount of thought was given to who still has access to some of our social media accounts. I also want you to know that the middle finger that you regulars were given...some of the staff were also given and we feel the same way you do ... After all, this is now an 'apolitical' bar. But look at who’s now associated with it.”
Flannery has repeatedly declined to make any comment to WUSA9 on his ongoing battle with D.C. over mask and vaccine policies.
RELATED: Big Board owner doubles down on not enforcing vaccine mandate after DC Health closes restaurant
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