In a world smattered with corporate greed, it is good to hear some uplifting news, and the owner of Culver’s restaurant in Platteville, Wisconsin is providing just that.
Bruce Kroll owned Culver’s for over 19 years, but last November the entire building was destroyed in a fire, leaving 40 employees wondering how they would make a living. Kroll did something few would even consider – he continued to pay his employees – out of his own pocket – for six months until he could rebuild. This restaurant re-opened just this past week.
The employees weren’t asked to pay back the $144,000 that Kroll was out while paying them for not working. He simply asked them to pay it forward with community volunteer work.
You can watch a video of his employees talking about this unusual, but welcomed the act of kindness, here.
Other acts of promoting wage equality are happening in the world, too, despite the fact that a recent study by academics at Princeton and Northwestern purports that the U.S. is evolving into an oligarchy in which wealthy elites exercise far more power over the political process than ordinary citizens. John D. Sutter has smartly suggested a maximum wage set at 100 times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour (or $15,080 a year based on a 40-hour work week). That works out to a maximum of roughly $1.5 million a year. Perhaps more business owners could be as gracious as Bruce Kroll if this type of legislation were enacted.