The Lotus-Heart restaurant in Christchurch has chosen to take a stand against vaccine mandates, by refusing to let customers know if they require a vaccine pass, not promoting use of their COVID Tracer QR Code, and not having any system in place to check vaccine passes. As a result they have been fined $20,000 dollars by WorkSafe.

Other people and businesses have been doing well when it comes to raising money for their COVID weirdness on the popular fundraising site Givealittle. This includes an Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) gym who were given a $12,000 fine, and have since raised over $40,000 (opens new window) to help fight (no pun intended) in court what they claim are unjust mandates, and Casey Hodgkinson who claims she has been injured by the Pfizer vaccine and has raised over $12,000 (opens new window) to fund alternative treatments.

So I wouldn’t be surprised if a similar Givealittle page popped up soon for the Lotus Heart, although presumably this kind of fundraising will only inspire generosity the first few times it’s attempted. Once a few more companies have used this method to help pay the consequences of their bad decisions, I suspect they’ll start to find it get harder and harder to enthuse people enough to donate their money - especially as many of those who are likely to donate are also likely to be unvaccinated, with a good chance that this has affected their employment and subsequent financial status.

And I fully expect to see some of the usual names pop up when and if these cases end up in court - Sue Grey, Liz Lambert and Ashleigh Fechney (who you may hear more about in an upcoming newsletter) all spring to mind, as they all seem more than happy to take money in exchange for bad legal advice or representation. Stay tuned for more.