An ex-employee of Marten Transport Ltd. is suing the trucking company in Wisconsin federal court, alleging that a tobacco surcharge in its health plan violates federal antidiscrimination law by charging workers who smoke an extra $780 per year for their health-care coverage than those who don’t, without offering a legally compliant way to avoid the penalty.
In the complaint, plaintiff Mark Maurer said going forward, workers can avoid these penalties by participating in quit-smoking programs, but there’s no way for them to be reimbursed for fees they’ve already paid. This runs afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which allows health plans to charge higher rates to tobacco-using employees only if they provide a “reasonable alternative standard” that allows workers to have the full penalty waived without quitting smoking, the complaint said.
According to Hylant Law, numerous class-action lawsuits have recently been filed against employers alleging that health plan premium surcharges related to tobacco use violate federal compliance requirements. These lawsuits have been filed by current and former employees of major U.S. companies, such as PepsiCo, Walmart, Target and Whole Foods, who have paid more in premiums due to their tobacco use, often hundreds of dollars more per employee per year.
A handful of employers have agreed to class-wide settlements over similar cases, including Bass Pro Group LLC for $5 million, Lippert Components Inc. for $310,000, and UGN Inc. for $299,000.
