Waffle House Hit With $5M Tobacco-Surcharge Class Action

A former Waffle House server in Georgia filed a proposed class-action alleging the chain illegally charged tobacco-using employees an extra $92 per month for health insurance, in what plaintiffs say violates ERISA. The suit says workers could avoid the fee only if they joined a smoking-cessation program (Quit for Life), but the company allegedly failed to clearly disclose this option and kept surcharge proceeds instead of applying them to the health plan. The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages for employees nationwide who paid the surcharge in the past six years.