(Carolina Journal) – North Carolina bar owners suing over government-mandated shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic want to hear from former Gov. Roy Cooper and his top health official.
The bar owners are asking Superior Court Judge Edwin Wilson to force Cooper and former state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen to give depositions in the case.
The plaintiffs filed a “motion to compel” Thursday.
The request arrives as Cooper is running for North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat.
A July 7 hearing is scheduled. Bar owners hope to address their motion to compel at that hearing. A court filing Friday criticized lawyers representing Cooper and Cohen for seeking a delay in dealing with the motion. The same lawyers represent current Gov. Josh Stein, who became the official defendant in the lawsuit when he succeeded Cooper last year.
“It is not clear from defense counsel’s informal motion to continue whether the request is submitted on behalf of the Defendant, one or both of the nonparty witnesses, or some combination of those jointly represented parties,” the bar owners’ lawyers wrote Friday. “However, it is apparent that the request is not motivated by a legitimate need for additional time to respond.”
“Rather, it appears to be more likely motivated by a desire to shield former Governor Cooper, who is currently running for elected office, and perhaps also former Secretary Cohen, from having to provide testimony under oath regarding the reasons for their decision to deprive the plaintiffs of their means to make a living for over a year, while allowing many similarly situated businesses to open,” the court filing continued.
“This case has already been pending for over six years,” the bar owners’ lawyers added. “Delaying the hearing on Plaintiffs’ Motion to Compel, which would in turn delay the depositions offormer Gov. Cooper and former Sec. Cohen, would prejudice the Plaintiffs by even further delaying the ultimate resolution of this case.”
Bar owners led by the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association sued Cooper in June 2020. They challenged his executive orders forcing private bars to remain closed during the pandemic as other business reopened, including restaurants and other businesses with bars.
A trial judge dismissed the suit, but the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled in 2025 that bar owners could pursue their claims that the government-mandated shutdowns violated their state constitutional rights.
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