Kroger Employees File Suit Over Health Plan’s Tobacco Penalty

Kroger Co. was sued Wednesday by two employees challenging the grocer’s practice of requiring workers who smoke to pay extra fees for health-care coverage.

Kroger allows employees who complete a quit-smoking program to avoid the tobacco penalty, but it sets an unreasonably short deadline for completing the program and fails to make clear that workers can receive retroactive reimbursement of penalties already paid, according to the lawsuit. This flouts the federal requirements governing employee wellness plans and constitutes impermissible self-dealing under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the workers said in a complaint filed in the US District Court for ...