I have a problem with the one fining employers if any of their employees goes out and buys private insurance. I don’t see how you can hold someone liable for another person’s conduct, especially where I bet the employer does not have the ability to tell the employee not to do it.
They've been doing this for years. If a company pays me to do a job, and I do not properly pay my employment tax (SSI &c.), the company is liable. (This is one of the things that guy who flew a plane into a Texas IRS Office was mad about.)
ML/NJ