Waffle House discriminated against smoking employees, $5M lawsuit alleges

A former server at Waffle House has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the restaurant chain, alleging that they have been illegally charging employees who use tobacco an extra $92 a month for health insurance through a surcharge program. The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, claims that Waffle House violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by imposing tobacco surcharges without providing employees the option to avoid the fees by participating in a smoking-cessation program.

Corkeitha Hicks, who worked as a server at a Waffle House restaurant in Forsyth, Ga., alleges that she paid the surcharge after enrolling in the company’s health plan.

According to the lawsuit, Waffle House deducted approximately $23 a week from Hicks’ paycheck, totaling about $92 a month or $1,104 annually.

The lawsuit aims to represent Waffle House employees nationwide who have paid the tobacco surcharge over the past six years.

Waffle House operates over 2,000 restaurants in 25 states and requires employees enrolling in the company health insurance to disclose their tobacco use.

Employees who admit to using tobacco are charged an additional $92 per month for health coverage, as per the lawsuit.

Hicks argues that the surcharge violates federal benefits law as employers can only charge smokers more if they provide a qualifying wellness program that offers a legitimate way to avoid the fee.

Waffle House offers a smoking-cessation program called Quit for Life to employees. The lawsuit alleges that workers who completed the program by Sept. 30 could receive a refund for their tobacco surcharges for that plan year and cease paying the extra fee moving forward.

However, employees who finished the program after Sept. 30 were only able to avoid future surcharges and were not reimbursed for previous payments, according to the complaint.

Hicks also alleges that Waffle House did not clearly inform employees in their health plan materials that they could avoid the surcharge by completing the Quit