Crush Bar, the queer bar and cafe in Southeast Portland, and its connected cafe Woody’s Coffee Tavern were among the thousands of establishments that closed its doors last night after Gov. Kate Brown announced new social distancing measures across the state. Today, its employees decided to protest what they’re calling an illegal withholding of funds.

Last night, all 27 of Crush’s employees were laid off, in preparation for today’s forced closure of all dine-in food and drink businesses. At around 3:30 p.m. today, 12 employees arrived at the bar and then refused to leave, protesting owner John Clarke’s decision to lay off all employees without any financial aid, with the claim that he broke the law by denying their use of accrued sick hours to cover lost wages. The protest, which was set to last for up to 24 hours, was dispersed by Portland police after an hour.

“Yesterday we all were informed via text or phone call or from the Crush Facebook page that the bar was shutting down, and all employees would be laid off,” says Hannah Gioia, a line cook at Crush and representative for the bar and cafe’s union, the Crush Bar Workers Collective (CBWC). “When pressed for accrued sick time pay off, half-time pay for our scheduled hours one week out, and guarantee rehires when the bar reopens, the owner said, ‘No, no, and no.’”

When asked why they decided to sit-in rather than pursue remuneration along legal channels, Gioia expressed the dire urgency of the situation. “We do not predict that we can wait out a government agency’s abilities to process this charge. We need resources now,” she says. “Getting laid off is already devastating, but during a public health crisis it’s catastrophic. We are out of options, and we expect this owner to do what is legally required and what is right by us.”

While the website for Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries reads, “If a public official requires a shutdown for a health emergency, you would be entitled to use any accrued sick time,” it’s unclear if the guidance would be legally binding in the case of a pandemic such as this one.

Within an hour, police were called and, according to Gioia, the group “peaceably left, as the cops dictated,” while “management antagonized, teased, and taunted the workers.” The CBWC is reportedly regrouping to discuss next steps.

Eater has reached out to both Crush’s main line and John Clarke for comment. This is a developing story, and will be updated with any new information.

Update, Sunday, March 22: On March 19, roughly 48 hours after the CBWC staged its sit-in, a bar manager contacted all 27 employees to let them know they would be paid for their accrued PTO hours. However, owners have not yet agreed to pay for the half-time pay for scheduled hours, nor have they promised to re-hire all workers on re-opening.

• Crush Bar [Official]

• Woody’s Coffee Tavern [Official]

• All Eater PDX Coronavirus Coverage [EPDX]