Marriott Worker Sues Company Over Smoker Penalty in Health Plan

A Marriott International Inc. employee filed a proposed class action accusing the hotel chain of wrongly charging workers who smoke extra fees for health-care coverage.

Marriott requires tobacco-using employees to pay an extra $15 per week to keep their health-care coverage and doesn’t provide an alternative standard for having the penalties waived, the worker said in a complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Maryland.

Certain of Marriott’s employee communications reference a quit-smoking program, but workers aren’t given information about how to enroll or told that participation in the program will allow them to avoid ...