Republic Services Tobacco Penalty Lawsuit Adds to Growing List

Waste collection company Republic Services Inc. is the latest company to be sued over its practice of charging employees who use tobacco products extra fees for health-care coverage.

The proposed class action, docketed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Arizona, centers on Republic’s practice of requiring smokers on its health plan to pay an additional $40 per month. Republic doesn’t provide an alternative standard workers can satisfy in order to escape the charges, and it gives them only limited opportunities to update their tobacco use status, former employee Nathaniel Diehl alleged in the complaint.

• Diehl ...