Publix Super Markets Inc. can’t avoid a wrongful death lawsuit alleging it caused an elderly Miami Beach employee to contract COVID-19 by prohibiting him from wearing a mask early in the pandemic, according to a ruling from Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Carlos Lopez.

The judge denied a motion to dismiss, giving the green light to Michael Levine and A. Dax Bello of Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain in Miami, who represent the four adult children of 70-year-old deli department employee Gerardo Gutierrez.