Statement from Applebee's President Mike Archer about Obamacare

[BlueStreak]

12. Here is an email I sent to the PR agent

Please pass my comments along to Mr. Archer.

I occasionally have dined at your restaurants and found the property clean, the kitchen and menu adequate, and the staff attentive. My wife is a vegetarian, so your restaurants are not a good choice for us personally. I have, however, in recent years made a routine of giving Applebees gift certificates to friends and my own staff -- typically about 30 certificates each year. I did so because I trusted you were an ethical company that would not disappoint those I treated.

I will not be doing so going forward. I was appalled that one of your franchisees has such a low opinion of his employees and his responsibilities in the American economy. As a taxpayer and fellow business owner, I have paid millions of dollars over the years, helping our nation create an environment where people like you have an opportunity to build a business, hire healthy, educated employees, and pursue your piece of the American dream. It has always been my philosophy that employees are the key to any businesses. Anybody who is looking for a way to cheat employees is -- well let me just use the word short-sighted to be polite.

I have operated a franchise system in the past, and I appreciate that franchise law requires an arms length relationship, so you cannot be held accountable for what amounts to free speech of your franchisees. You can, however, be held accountable for your own statement, which I found to be extremely disappointing. What you said, essentially, is that "I promise I will not commit any felonies." Reading between the lines, I see an implication that you will look for every legal opportunity, such as demoting employees to part-time status, to avoid paying your fair share of the cost of the American Dream. By doing so, you are passing that cost along to the rest of us -- like a patron who slips out of your restaurant without paying his check.

The law includes loopholes that will allow you to do that. But I will not patronize your business unless I see a formal, public statement from your office that indicates you understand your full responsibilities to employees in the American system that has been so kind to you.