ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (CBS/AP) – A New Jersey judge ruled Friday that smoking will continue to be allowed in Atlantic City casinos, marking a victory for the city’s struggling casino industry but a disappointing setback for casino workers who have long campaigned for it. smoke free work environment.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels represents a major victory for the city’s nine casinos, which generally earn less from private gamblers than before the COVID19 pandemic.
But it’s a major setback for workers who have spent four years trying to ban smoking in their workplaces, first by trying to get lawmakers to change the law, then by filing lawsuits. Lawyers for the workers said they will ask the state Supreme Court to hear the case as soon as possible.
Casinos have warned that thousands of jobs and millions in gambling revenue and taxes could be lost if smoking is banned.
“We are gratified by the court’s decision to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint and reject its attempt to change the Smoke-Free Air Act outside the legislative process,” said Mark Giannantonio, president of Casino Resorts and the Casino Association of New Jersey.
He said the industry, the city and the main casino workers’ union, local 54 Unite here “have taken significant steps over the years to create a healthy environment for employees and customers, including limiting smoking to only a fraction of the floorspace.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with our stakeholders for solutions that address employee health concerns, while also protecting the collective interests and well-being of the entire Atlantic City workforce,” Giannantonio said.
Anti-smoking workers vow to continue pushing for smoke-free casinos.
“This battle is far from over,” said Lamont White, a Borgata grocer and leader of the anti-smoking movement. “While today’s results are disappointing, our determination remains unwavering.”
White said the decision gives legislators “even more reason to uphold their responsibility to finally do the right thing and pass bipartisan legislation that New Jerseyans support,” he said. “It’s time to make things right for the thousands of us who are still working and living without the same protections afforded to every other New Jerseyan.”
Nancy Erika Smith, who argued the case for the workers, rejected the decision and vowed to appeal.
“While other states are moving away from poisoning workers for profit, New Jersey is ashamed of itself,” she said in a written statement. “As long as the governor, the Legislature and the Courts allow the extremely wealthy casino industry to poison workers, we will continue to fight.”
Why ban smoking is one of the most controversial issues not only in Atlantic City casinos, but in other countries where workers have expressed concern about secondhand smoke. He ran similar campaigns in Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Virginia.
Now, smoking allowed 25% from the casino floor in Atlantic City. But the area is not contiguous, and the practical effect is that secondhand smoke is present in varying degrees throughout the casino floor.
At lawsuit filed in April by the United Auto Workers, which represents dealers at Bally’s, Caesars and Tropicana casinos, seeks to overturn New Jersey’s indoor smoking law, which bans it virtually everywhere except casinos.
In a May 13 hearing before a judge in Trenton, Smith raised the issue of equal protection under the law, and what he called his constitutional right to safety. However, the judge said that the workers “depend on their constitutional right to safety without any established law” and predicted that they would not prevail with the suit.
The state attorney general’s office emphasized the possibility that the smoking ban could reduce tax revenue that funds programs for senior citizens of New Jersey and residents are disabled.
Atlantic City briefly implemented a smoking ban in 2008, but it was quickly repealed after the casinos experienced a drop in revenue of nearly 20% in two weeks, Seth Ptasiewicz, a lawyer for casino workers who want to keep the current smoking policy.
Smoking opponents argue that casinos will lose business, citing studies that show casinos that quit smoking do better financially without it.
Anti-smoking workers brought the lawsuit after years of efforts to get lawmakers to change the law stalled.
Shortly after the Bill that will stop smoking advanced out of the state Senate committee, another legislature introduced a competing Bill that will continue to allow smoking in 25% of the casino floor, but will reconfigure where it is allowed. No employee would be forced to work in a smoking area where they don’t want to, according to the bill.
No steps have been taken in months.
