The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Bates) has denied AARP’s request to block the implementation of the EEOC’s final wellness regulations pending a decision on the merits. As we have discussed previously, the regulations address the extent to which an employer may offer incentives to participate in a wellness program without violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).  The final rules have taken effect as of January 1, 2017.

In EEOC v. Orion Energy Systems, Inc.,  the Eastern District of Wisconsin rejected the EEOC’s claims that Orion Energy’s wellness program violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  Although the court upheld the employer’s past practice, the court signaled that the EEOC’s recent regulations on wellness plans (discussed here and here), which limit the incentive that an employer can provide to encourage participation in a wellness program, will be enforceable going forward.  Although it has limited precedential value, the Orion decision suggests that employers should continue to take the new regulations into account for 2017 and beyond.

For large employers, the quest to reduce the cost of medical benefits relies in part on helping employees get healthier. Enter the “wellness program,” where employers offer incentives to employees and their families to be more proactive about their health in various ways, such as more exercise, quitting smoking, diagnosing high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and evaluating the risk of future health problems.