Darden Restaurants, mother company of chain restaurants Olive Garden and Red Lobster, reported that their latest quarterly earnings are down 37 percent.
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Why? We know it’s not because they aren’t selling enough Cheddar Bay Biscuits or never-ending pasta bowls.
The company is attributing the low earnings on the “recent negative media coverage on Darden […] and how we might accommodate healthcare reform.”
They’re referring to their recent anti-Obamacare campaign. Darden, along with other big chains like Papa John’s Pizza, threatened to shift employees’ part-time statuses to avoid covering them under Obamacare.
Starting in 2014, Obamacare requires firms with 50 or more full-time workers to offer these employees basic health benefits or risk paying a fine. While studies have shown that Obamacare only modestly increases health care spending for large firms — while actually reducing it for smaller employers — that has not stopped some large employers from painting Obamacare as a burdensome bogeyman.
Denny’s is also among the companies trying to deny their employees basic healthcare. But hey, that’s not surprising for Denny’s. They are always caught up shady situations.
Will you be among those staying out of those restaurants and trying to make some of those famous cheddar biscuits at home?
SOURCE: Think Progress
PHOTO CREDIT: AP
