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Waffle House discriminated against smoking employees, $5M lawsuit alleges
New York Post • • business
Key Points:
- A former Waffle House server filed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging the company illegally charged employees who use tobacco an extra $92 monthly for health insurance without providing a proper smoking-cessation option to avoid the fee.
- The lawsuit claims Waffle House violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by not offering a qualifying wellness program that allows workers to meaningfully avoid the tobacco surcharge.
- The suit argues that Waffle House's smoking-cessation program refunds surcharges only if completed by a specific deadline, limiting employees' ability to avoid fees and failing to clearly inform workers of this option.
- It also alleges that Waffle House improperly retained the surcharge funds instead of using them for the employee health plan, framing the wellness program as a revenue-generating scheme rather than a genuine health initiative.
- The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million on behalf of employees nationwide who paid the tobacco surcharge over the past six years; Waffle House has not yet commented.
