Dining at Michael Mina is no small investment, especially when a 4-percent surcharge for health care costs is added to your bill -- and especially when that money doesn't pay for health care.
The famous restaurateur's flagship San Francisco location and its offshoots - RN74, Bourbon Steak and Clock Bar - collected $539,806 in surcharges. That's extra fees the restaurants charged in order to pay for a 2006 San Francisco law requiring employers to provide health benefits to their workers - but spent only $211,809 on employee healthcare, according to an investigation by the San Francisco City Attorney.
Mina was one of dozens of restaurant operators that collected money to pay for Healthy San Francisco and instead spent the money on items unknown, according to the San Francisco Business Times.
The restaurant group will pay out $83,000 to employees who worked for the company between 2009 and 2011 in order to settle any possible legal complications over its healthcare accounting snafu, the newspaper reported.
The restaurant collected a 4 percent surcharge on diners' bills; it now collects a 3 percent surcharge, the newspaper reported.
"More than 90 restaurants" were targeted by the City Attorney for failing to spend money collected for healthcare on healthcare, the newspaper reported. "Dozens" of eateries are still working on settlements.
San Francisco diners paid about $14 million in surcharges; less than a third of the money collected actually went to employee healthcare.
