Sedgwick Settles Lawsuit Over Health Plan’s Tobacco Penalties

Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. agreed to settle a proposed class action challenging its decision to charge tobacco-using employees an extra $1,300 per year for health-care coverage.

The parties are drafting settlement paperwork that they expect to submit to the court by mid-April. Their settlement notice, filed Feb. 20 in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, didn’t include details about the terms of the agreement.

The lawsuit accuses Sedgwick of failing to retroactively reimburse the tobacco penalties paid by certain employees who subsequently complete a quit-smoking program, and of failing to inform workers that recommendations ...