An Atlanta restaurant is under fire for what owners say are optional fees on customers’ tabs to help cover employees’ health insurance costs. Fox Business reports on the negative backlash JenChan’s Pizza and Chinese, a restaurant located in the Cabbagetown section of the city, has received since a patron posted his receipt on Reddit in December, explaining this 4% surcharge. The notice on the invoice and JenChan’s menu states: “You will notice on your receipt a 4% health insurance discount that we implemented after our premiums more than tripled last year. Thank you for being part of our efforts to ensure our employees are able to seek care for whatever mental illness or physical condition they may encounter.
For those who don’t want to subsidize workers’ health insurance premiums, the letter adds: “Please know that we would be more than happy to remove this for you without hesitation.” The Reddit post has since been taken down, but not before it attracted thousands of reactions and comments, and restaurant management quickly responded. A December 29 Facebook post explains that the fee “has been on the list for about a year.” “We were inspired by two other restaurants here that do the same thing.” Although the restaurant could have simply raised their prices without causing too much of a stir, co-owner Emily Chan says they wanted to raise awareness about what they face when it comes to their health insurance costs. Chan adds that they have received threats on social media since the post about the fees went viral.
“Of course, people will disagree with that, and I think that’s the beautiful thing about where we live,” she told WSB. “I want people to disagree, because that means we can have a conversation about this. That’s great, but let’s leave physical violent threats out of the picture.” The restaurant is also fighting back against people leaving negative reviews online. “Please stop going to Yelp or Google and making random things sound like you’re stuck and out because of health insurance charges,” a Facebook post on Friday said. “Support the small businesses that hold this country together. And if you’re angry at what we’re doing, tell Congress to fix it.” Meanwhile, the restaurant, which opened only a few months before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, refunded a $2.02 charge on the complainant’s original bill. (Read more health insurance stories.)