KITCHENER -- A woman allegedly coughed on an employee in a retail store in Guelph after she was asked to put on her mask properly.
Earlier this month, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health made masks mandatory for those entering commercial establishments, unless they meet a couple of criteria for exemption.
According to a news release, officers were called on Tuesday to a store near Norfolk and Commercial Streets after the incident happened.
Police say a man and woman entered the store with masks on, but the woman had hers pulled down under her chin.
The victim then approached the pair to help them and asked the customer to wear her mask properly.
In the news release, police say she complied with the request for a short time, but as they were checking out another employee noticed again that her mask was not being worn correctly.
That employee asked the customer again to wear her mask correctly.
Police say that as the pair left the store, the woman allegedly took her mask off, turned and coughed on the first employee.
This is the second incident this month that relates to the mandatory mask order in Guelph.
On June 12, police got a report that a customer at the Stone Road Mall had coughed at an employee after being asked to wear a mask.
Guelph police say that these complaints will be investigated to see whether there's grounds for criminal charges.
"Any one store employee that's having issues with this mandate can contact the Guelph police or they can contact Guelph city by-law and certainly we will respond accordingly," Const. Brian Murphy said.
They're appealing to the public to be courteous and considerate, saying that any worker who experiences a problem because of the policy should call police.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to contact police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
