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In Oregon, isn’t it illegal for “a place of public accommodation” to refuse cash payments? If I go to a store and offer them cash and they won’t take it, can I legally walk out without paying? —Local Cash Haver
You can legally walk out of any store without paying, Haver, as long as you don’t take anything with you when you leave. What you can’t do is go to a cashless sex shop, load up your cart with girthy purple dildos, and use a disingenuous offer of cash payment as an excuse to take them home for free.
That’s not to say it’s legal for sex shops (or any other shop) to be cashless. A lot has changed since the last time we answered this question, notably the passage of 2022’s SB 1565, requiring most retail establishments to accept cash as payment. Plenty of places have been flouting the new law, however.
Why? Perhaps they don’t know about it. Or perhaps they know a lot about it, like how the only consequence for breaking it is that consumers can file a BOLI complaint if they want. (That puts the burden of enforcement on you and me, and while I don’t know about you, when I’m choosing between “long government form” and “short nap,” the form usually loses.)
This widespread non-compliance inspired the 2025 legislature to pass a followup bill, SB 1176, which goes into effect later this month. Finally, a law with some teeth to give these digital scofflaws the punishment they deserve. Just kidding! It’s a public education campaign, with no additional enforcement provisions beyond the existing BOLI wheeze. Time will tell whether this legal equivalent of requiring violators to sit in a comfy chair until teatime improves compliance. In the meantime, what’s a bitchy, tendentious consumer to do?
In pay-first transactions like that sex shop, nothing: Since cash-havers aren’t a protected class, retailers can simply refuse their business without fear of reprisal. With sit-down restaurants, however, things get more interesting. Normally, non-paying diners can be charged with “theft of services,” described as “absconding without payment or offer to pay.” Whether tendering cash at a place that doesn’t accept it counts as a legal offer to pay would be a matter for the courts. However, given that refusing cash is (at least nominally) illegal, you’d probably have a strong case. Besides, they say jail isn’t as bad as it used to be. Good luck!
Questions? Send them to dr.know@wweek.com.
