We prove an optimal regularity result for elliptic operators $-nabla cdot mu nabla:W^1,q_0 rightarrow W^-1,q$ for a $q>3$ in the case when the coefficient function $mu$ has a jump across a $C^1$ interface and is continuous elsewhere. A counterexample shows that the $C^1$ condition cannot be relaxed in general. Finally, we draw some conclusions for corresponding parabolic operators.
