Sedgwick Signs $3 Million Class Deal Over Health Plan Smoker Fee

Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. will pay $3 million 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 proposed deal, announced Friday in the US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, would benefit about 5,000 people who paid a tobacco surcharge under Sedgwick’s health plan since October 2018. It represents about 24% of their total estimated damages in the case.

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 ...