We all know that our small business owners are the lifeblood of the US economy. There are approximately 30 million of us and we provide more than half of the jobs in this country. Everyone seems to love us. Politicians court us. Big brands tip their hats to us. Each year we celebrate our small business community with Small Business Week, Small Business Saturday, National Entrepreneurship Month and many other days honoring independent workers and minority business owners.
Yay for us! But you know what? As much as I’m an advocate and a voice for my fellow small business brethren, even I have to admit that not all small business owners are worthy of such praise. Some, in fact, are not worthy at all.
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There are the restaurant owners – like these in California, Michigan and Oregon to name just a few – who blatantly and recklessly defied local Covid regulations and put their customers and employees at risk of dying from something other than the E coli in their food. Or the dentist in Wisconsin who broke his patients’ teeth in order to submit false insurance claims (wow!).
And let’s not forget the seemingly incalculable number of small business owners – like the operators of a tech company and a baking business in Massachusetts, the genius who ran a real estate firm in Pennsylvania, the serial fraudster from Delaware and the twin brothers who oversaw multiple businesses in California – who all defrauded the federal government by submitting fake claims for Covid relief funds because, hey, why should that money go to people who actually needed it, right?
Or how about the manufacturer in Georgia who was ordered to pay $250,000 after firing a disabled employee? Who does that? Or the regional water services company in Minnesota that was told to cough up $45,000 to an employee who was unfairly terminated due to the color of her skin? Who does that too?
Turns out a lot of business owners do that. And other bad things too.
If you don’t believe me then check out the tallies the government keeps. For example, less than a month ago the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released detailed breakdowns of more than 67,448 charges of workplace discrimination claims the agency received in just its past fiscal year. The agency said it secured $439.2m for the victims of discrimination in the private sector and state and local government workplaces through voluntary resolutions and litigation. The Department of Labor recently reported thousands of cases from 2021 where businesses in industries ranging from auto repairs to landscaping services underpaid or mistreated employees.