Compass Group Workers Advance Smoker Health Penalty Lawsuit (1)

Hospitality company Compass Group USA Inc. was ordered to defend a proposed class action saying it wrongly charges higher health premiums to workers who smoke without giving them a valid method for avoiding the penalty.

Judge Stephen R. Bough on Tuesday declined to dismiss claims that Compass Group’s tobacco penalty violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, saying for the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri that the plaintiff employees validly alleged that ERISA requires plans that charge these penalties to retroactively reimburse employees who satisfy the plan’s alternative standard for avoiding the fee.

The six-month-old lawsuit ...