The ERISA Challenge: Fees and Fairness
Filed in September 2024, Bokma’s original complaint—and later joined by Samsil—claimed the company’s health plan violated ERISA’s nondiscrimination provisions, which forbid health-related premium differentials unless participants can avoid them through a wellness program.
The plaintiffs argued that Performance failed to clearly explain its tobacco cessation program and refused to reimburse employees who had already paid surcharges before joining the program. They further accused the company of breaching fiduciary duties by retaining those surcharge funds to reduce its own plan contributions.
Performance Food countered the suit in a December motion to dismiss, asserting that Bokma and Samsil lacked standing, since their arguments relied on Department of Labor regulations rather than the statute itself. The company leaned on the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ruling, which dismantled the Chevron deference, a legal doctrine that had previously allowed courts to defer to agency interpretations.
