Ruth Schmidt of Renfrew loads groceries into her car at Giant Eagle at Moraine Pointe Plaza in March. The grocery store chain is being sued by two Butler County residents, along with more than 30 other complainants, over its facemask policy.

PITTSBURGH — Two Butler County residents sued Giant Eagle over its facemask policy, claiming the prohibition on non-masked individuals entering the store violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The two area plaintiffs — Katherine Duckstein of Seven Fields and James Leonard of Butler — join more than 30 other complainants in the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh.

The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief, meaning the plaintiffs wish to halt the grocery chain's policy, along with attorney's fees.

The dozens of plaintiffs filed their lawsuits individually, but the cases were consolidated Wednesday by Senior U.S. District Judge Nora Berry Fischer due to their similar nature. All plaintiffs are represented by the same Pittsburgh-based attorney, Thomas Anderson.

Neither Anderson nor a Giant Eagle spokesman responded to a request for comment. The grocery chain has not submitted to the court an answer to the lawsuit.

According to the complaints, both Duckstein and Leonard have medical conditions that can cause them to be harmed if they wear masks.

Duckstein, according to the lawsuit, has vasovagal syncope, a condition that causes fainting in response to certain triggers such as blood or extreme emotional distress, the Mayo Clinic states. The lawsuit claims her vasovagal syncope, combined with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, prevents her from wearing a mask.

The lawsuit avers that Leonard similarly has PTSD, along with anxiety and claustrophobia, conditions the complaint states prevent him from wearing a mask.

The suit purports that Duckstein was prohibited from shopping at the Seven Fields Giant Eagle for not wearing a mask, even after telling the manager she would have a seizure if she wore a mask. Despite the prohibition, Duckstein continued to shop until she was escorted out of the store by police, the suit claims.

One of the officers allegedly told Duckstein he thought the store was “being ridiculous,” and the manager asked Duckstein for her bank card to pay for her groceries while she waited outside, according to the complaint.

In Leonard's case, the lawsuit asserts he was forbidden from shopping at the Clearview Mall Giant Eagle in May for not wearing a mask. He told the manager he couldn't wear a mask due to his medical condition and said the state's mask order has an exception for medical conditions, the complaint states, to which the unnamed manager allegedly responded, “I don't give a (expletive) what about what (the governor) said.”

Both lawsuits claim that an unnamed owner of an unidentified Giant Eagle store publicly posted that “it's too easy to make up an excuse not to wear a mask,” but did not specify where this was posted.

The complaints cite an order issued April 19 by state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine that required customers at stores in Pennsylvania to wear face masks, except for those who cannot due to a medical condition.

They further claim the grocery chain's actions violated the federal ADA by forbidding entry to individuals who had medical conditions. The ADA requires most businesses — such as grocery stores — to make “reasonable accommodation” to individuals with disabilities.