A Bend coffee shop that willfully disregarded COVID-19 regulations on mask-wearing, social distancing and closure orders has been slapped with a $27,470 fine by state regulators.

Kevista Coffee on Bend’s west side was hit with the fine Tuesday for violating three standards designed to protect employees from coronavirus, according to a release from Oregon Occupational Safety and Health.

Owners of the coffee shop, Kevin and Krista Lauinger, spent the past year ignoring COVID-19 rules, creating an uproar on social media in Bend. Anti-mask supporters packed into the coffee shop while detractors blasted the couple on platforms such as Yelp and Reddit.

“In one of the violations, the company willfully continued to potentially expose workers to the virus, despite a public health order limiting the capacity of indoor dining to zero in an ‘extreme risk’ county,” Oregon OSHA said.

OSHA inspected the coffee shop after multiple complaints from the public. Regulators said Kevista offered indoor dining from Dec. 3 when Deschutes County was in the extreme risk category for COVID-19 cases.

The Lauingers told Oregon OSHA they were aware of the rules to close all business to in-person dining but chose to remain open. Signs on the door explained to the public that the store was engaged in a “peaceful protest.”

The penalty imposed by OSHA is three times the minimum penalty for such a violation. OSHA said the decision to impose the stiff penalty is to deter employers from disregarding health and safety standards.

Allowing customers to sit inside when cases of COVID-19 were at extreme levels put employees at risk and enabled the employer to achieve a competitive advantage over businesses that comply with the requirements, OSHA said in its statement.

Prior to the Oregon OSHA intervention, the Deschutes County Health Department attempted repeatedly to educate the Kevista owners on proper COVID-19 safety protocols, said the department’s director, Dr. George A. Conway.

“We received calls from concerned patrons complaining about this business due to lack of mask wearing and COVID-19 prevention measures,” said Conway. “When a business such as Kevista doesn’t take precautions to prevent COVID-19 spread, it’s really disheartening, and may not reflect well on similar businesses.”

The fines are starting to stack up for the rogue coffee brewer. In July, Kevista was issued an $8,900 citation for willfully failing to enforce rules around mask wearing. That case is currently under appeal.

Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood said in a prepared statement that most employers around the state have complied with state COVID-19 regulations on businesses.

“As for the vocal few who insist on defying standards and putting their workers at risk, we will continue to bring our enforcement tools to bear,” said Wood.

OSHA’s fine was broken down into three violations. The fines included $26,700 for disregarding capacity limitations while Deschutes was in the extreme risk category; a $385 fine for failing to implement an infection control plan; and a $385 fine for failing to conduct an assessment to identify potential employee exposure to the virus.

Kevista did not respond to a request for comment from The Bulletin. The company, which is registered as Laui Life Coffee LLC, has 30 days to appeal the citation.