Whole Foods Workers Advance Health Plan Smoker Penalty Lawsuit

Current and former Whole Foods Inc. employees advanced their proposed class action challenging the grocer’s alleged practice of charging an extra $780 per year to tobacco-using workers covered by its health plan.

The workers plausibly alleged that Whole Foods failed to give them an opportunity to receive retroactive reimbursement of previously paid tobacco penalties, Judge David A. Ezra of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas said Tuesday. Whole Foods argued retroactive reimbursement wasn’t legally required, but Ezra disagreed, saying the relevant statute requires employers to provide the “full reward” to employees who satisfy the plan’s alternative ...