Proscription against discriminating some collides with the right to well-being of others

“If refusal of a service is motivated by the subjective feelings of an business owner, there is nothing to justify it in the eyes of the law. But, clearly, a business owner who bars non-vaccinated individuals from her premises is acting to protect health and safety”, argues  Bernadeta Kasztelan-Świetlik, partner at GESSEL.

Do restaurateurs have legal grounds to collect information about the health status of their potential guests ?  I ask you this in reference to the recent announcement by a Warsaw restaurant that it will admit only people who have been vaccinated, who have recovered from a Covid infection, or who can produce a negative test result.

Let us begin with the constitution, which forbids discrimination in the political, social, or commercial spheres on grounds of, among others, gender, race, ethnic origin, nationality, religion, faith or sexual orientation (…)

The full text of this article is available in Polish. If you are interested in an English-language version or in discussing the issues raised herein with one of our lawyers, please contact: kontakt@gessel.pl