A Finnish man's lawsuit against the state and a cafe for discrimination due to Covid-19 vaccine certificate requirements was dismissed by the Helsinki District Court.
The man, who was denied service at Fazer Cafe in December 2021, argued that the restrictions violated his human rights and sought 20,000 euros in compensation.
However, the court ordered him to pay 105,000 euros to the Finnish state and 16,460 euros in legal fees to Fazer instead.
At the time, Finland's
Covid regulations allowed cafes and restaurants to demand
vaccine certificates for entry.
A man was denied service at a cafe in Finland because he did not have a
coronavirus passport, and the court ruled that he was aware of the requirement since there were notes about it outside.
The man's lawyer was also ordered to contribute to the payments due to negligent handling of the case.
The incident received attention from the anti-vaccination movement and critics of
Covid-19 restrictions, both in Finland and internationally.
Niko Pyrhonen, a researcher at Helsinki University, noted that the case involved people who have not taken the vaccination and had raised international interest due to similar opposition to
Covid-19 policies in other countries.