Performance Food Ordered to Defend Health Plan Smoker Penalty

Performance Food Group Inc. failed to secure dismissal of litigation saying it wrongly charges penalties to tobacco-using employees in its health plan without providing a legally compliant way for them to have the charges waived.

The food distributor must face proposed class claims that it violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and Labor Department regulations by operating an improper employee wellness program, Judge David J. Novak said Tuesday for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The workers who filed suit adequately alleged that the company breached its fiduciary duties under ERISA and violated federal regulations ...