The owners of an Auckland restaurant say their franchise agreement is being terminated after they repeatedly refused to follow the Government's COVID-19 rules.
It comes after Worksafe issued the New Lynn Lone Star two Infringement Notices and fined them $24,000 for violations of the vaccine mandate.
In a misinformation-filled Youtube video on Wednesday, owners Brendon and Stephanie said their restaurant will be shut down on Thursday.
"Sadly we expect our business will be shut down by our Lone Star franchise as we did not follow these unreasonable and inconsistent mandates.
"Lone Star Franchise gave us 10 days to remedy our situation and become fully compliant. If we don't then our franchise agreement will be terminated. This is set to happen on Wednesday [Thursday] the 27th," Stephanie said.
Lone Star New Lynn made headlines in December when they advertised roles for people who weren't vaccinated against COVID-19.
Videos posted on social media show Brian Tamaki supporters flocking to the restaurant on Wednesday night.
Vaccine mandates have been introduced in many countries including New Zealand in an effort to protect vulnerable people from the virus.
Anyone working in the health and disability, education, Fire and Emergency, Police, defence, and correctional workforces are required to be vaccinated.
Under the red and orange traffic light settings, restaurants can only open for dine-in customers if they use vaccine passes, otherwise they can only open for takeaway services.
The settings are aimed at reducing hospitalisations and deaths from the virus which has killed more than 5 million people worldwide.
Lone Star has been contacted for comment.
It's not the first business to be fined for COVID-19 violations. A gym near the restaurant was fined by WorkSafe in December for breaching the COVID-19 Protection Framework.
Oliver MMA gym was fined $12,000 for knowingly allowing unvaccinated staff to work.
