PepsiCo Beats Would-be Class Suit Over Health Plan’s Smoker Fee

PepsiCo Inc. defeated a proposed class action challenging its practice of charging tobacco-using employees an extra $900 per year for health-care coverage.

PepsiCo waives these tobacco penalties for employees who complete a quit-smoking program between May 1 and Nov. 30 of the preceding plan year, Judge Cathy Seibel said. This satisfies the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which requires employers to provide one opportunity per year for workers to receive a waiver, Seibel said in an opinion issued Feb. 27 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Seibel also dismissed claims that ...