RALEIGH, N.C. — Gym owners from across eastern North Carolina filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Roy Cooper, alleging that restrictions he put in place during the coronavirus pandemic keeping their businesses closed are unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs want a judge to void the governor's latest pandemic-related executive order because it infringes on their right to earn a living as guaranteed by the state constitution.
They also want the judge to declare a section of the state Emergency Management Act that Cooper has invoked as a basis for his orders unconstitutional.
"The General Assembly does not possess the authority to prohibit the right of individuals to pursue an ordinary vocation and earn a living," the lawsuit states, in part.