CNBC ran a story last Wednesday about Jamie Black-Lewis, owner of Oasis Medspa & Salon and Amai Day Spa in Washington state. The article detailed how Black-Lewis secured two loans through the new Paycheck Protection Program, for $177,000 and $43,800, to keep her businesses afloat through the pandemic.
But according to the article, Black-Lewis’ employees were fuming when they heard the good news. The reason? The money they were collecting through unemployment benefits was more than the wages they earn working for Black-Lewis, due to an extra $600 per week that the federal government’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stability Act provides.
Black-Lewis recounted the reaction as “a firestorm of hatred about the situation.” “They were pissed I’d take this opportunity away from them to make more for my own selfish greed to pay rent,” she told the outlet. CNBC described the employee “animosity” as “an unintended consequence” of the $2.2 trillion relief package. It ran with the headline: “She got a forgivable loan. Her employees hate her for it.” Continue reading.