§ 142A.002.Limitation on Liability for Wellness Programs

A liability limit with two exceptions, both of which do real work.

A civil action may not be brought against an employer for establishing, maintaining, or requiring participation in an employee wellness program unless:

(1) the program discriminates on the basis of a prior medical condition, gender, age, or income level; or (2) the cause of action is based on intentional or reckless conduct.

Note that the bar covers requiring participation, not only offering it. An employer that makes the program compulsory is within the protection, which is the situation most likely to generate a claim.

The four discrimination grounds are specific, and one of them is unusual. Prior medical condition, gender and age are familiar; income level is not a protected characteristic in general employment law.

Its inclusion addresses a real feature of these programs: an incentive expressed as a fixed premium reduction is worth far more proportionally to a lower-paid employee, and a penalty for non-participation bites harder.

The second exception is the ordinary one, preserving claims for intentional or reckless conduct — so the protection reaches negligence and no further.

Subsection (b) mirrors the neighbouring chapter: the section does not create a cause of action or expand an existing one. Where a claim exists under other law, this section limits it; where none exists, this section supplies nothing.

That matters for the discrimination exception, which does not itself create a discrimination claim — it removes the bar so that whatever claim already exists may proceed.