A local Atlanta restaurant has received violent threats for adding a 4 percent charge to customers’ bills to pay for its employees’ health insurance, WSB reports.
Owners of Jenchan’s, a pizza and Chinese restaurant in “Cabbage Town” Atlanta, said the extra 4 percent allows them to provide health insurance for their full-time employees, who work 35 hours or more.
“We have a line item on our menu for health insurance coverage. It is something we were inspired by other restaurants here in Atlanta do the same thing. It is the only way we could do the math to cover our employees’ health insurance,” they said.
The owners added a message about the 4 percent charge on their menu, so customers are aware before they place their orders. This gives patrons a choice of whether they want to dine at the restaurant or not.
“Of course, people are going to disagree with it, and I think that is what is beautiful about where we live. I want people to disagree because that means we can have a conversation about it. That is fantastic but let us leave the physical violent threats out of the picture,” Emily Chan said.
Chan said they found threats on their Facebook page, including one that stated: “‘I’ve never seen a family that needs to be beaten up more, make that healthcare come in handy.’”
Other people showed their support for the healthcare surcharge, saying: “Y’all are doing right by your employees and customers. Wish there were more like you.”
The owners said they are hoping the charge will allow them to provide health insurance for all their employees, not just those who work full time, in the future.
“We are obviously doing this to bring attention to something. Health insurance is incredibly expensive. Our own son is not even on our own health insurance plan, because it is really, really expensive,” Chan said.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.
