Ruth's Chris to repay $20 million in small business loans

Ruth's Hospitality Group, which owns the Ruth's Chris Steak House, says the company will return the $20 million it received from the small business relief program, NBC News reports.

Why it matters: The multimillion-dollar company, which has over 100 steakhouses in North America, secured $10 million in loans for each of its two subsidiaries. It was able to secure the money because it has fewer than 500 employees at each location. The ordeal has sparked backlash and highlighted the loopholes in the hastily written relief package.

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What's happening: The Treasury Department has asked other publicly traded companies to repay the loans they received from the Paycheck Protection Program, which had aimed to help small businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

• Food chains Sweetgreen and Shake Shack have also announced they'll return the PPP money.

What they're saying:

“We intended to repay this loan in adherence with government guidelines, but as we learned more about the funding limitations of the program and the unintended impact, we have decided to accelerate that repayment.”

Ruth's Chris President and CEO Cheryl J. Henry, per CNBC

Note: Axios qualified for a loan under this program. More details here.