\n Posted on: September 7, 2024, 11:21h.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Last updated on: September 7, 2024, 11:21h.\n <\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nOpponents of smoking inside Atlantic City casinos have appealed their case to the New Jersey Supreme Court.<\/span><\/p>\n Mercer County Judge Patrick Bartels last month dismissed a lawsuit against the state that alleged New Jersey\u2019s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act that provided carveouts for indoor smoking at casinos and parimutuel wagering facilities violates employees\u2019 rights to a safe workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n The United Auto Workers<\/a>, which represents table game dealers at Bally\u2019s, Caesars, and Tropicana and was a lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, says it has appealed the matter to the state\u2019s highest court. The plaintiffs additionally include a grassroots coalition of casino workers<\/a> organized as Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt is past time to allow casinos the exclusive right to poison their workers for claimed profits,\u201d said attorney Nancy Erika Smith, who filed the appeal on behalf of the UAW and CEASE.<\/span><\/p>\n The appeal seeks \u201cemergent relief,\u201d or an expedited review of the matter since the lawsuit claims personal health and worker safety is involved.<\/span><\/p>\n Bartels ruled against the UAW and CEASE<\/a> after concluding that the state\u2019s smoking law doesn\u2019t prevent a worker from seeking employment elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe act places no parameters on a casino worker\u2019s ability to seek work in a smoke-free environment,\u201d Bartels wrote in his ruling. \u201cIt cannot be said that the New Jersey Legislature\u2019s actions in providing exceptions to the Smoke-Free Air Act restricts the casino workers\u2019 right to pursue safety under the New Jersey Constitution.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Bartels said the plaintiffs\u2019 claims that they have a state constitutional right to a workplace free of secondhand smoke \u201cis not well-settled law.\u201d Bartels said the odds are long that such a challenge would prevail in a higher court.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Attorneys defending the nine casinos in Atlantic City, which want to retain indoor smoking on claims that a smoking ban would cost revenue and jobs<\/a>, argued that only the legislature can change the smoking law \u2014 not a judge.<\/span><\/p>\n Our elected officials struck what they believed was the most appropriate balance and have had the opportunity every year for 18 years since the act was passed to strike a different balance. If the Legislature changes its collective mind and decides to strike a different balance, then the law will change. If not, the law must stand, and plaintiffs\u2019 complaint must be dismissed,\u201d attorney Chris Porrino said on behalf the casinos.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Porrino added that the legislature\u2019s justifications for including the casino smoking loopholes were understandable.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe simple facts are that many people who gamble like to smoke. If the smoking exemption is stricken, jobs will be lost and employees will be out of work, medical, and other benefits,\u201d Porrino said.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Atlantic](\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/08410910c307bc76e2fe10cdd1d4bd84f05cc193-858x572.jpg\")
Judge Finds Law Constitutional<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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\u00a0<\/span>Odds Long<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n