A New Jersey Superior Court judge on Friday ruled against Atlantic City casino employees who brought a lawsuit against the state that looked to ban smoking inside the nine gambling facilities.
Patrick Bartels essentially ruled that smoking can continue inside Atlantic City casinos as state law currently allows.
However, as Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) co-founders said in a statement on Friday: “This fight is far from over.”
“While today’s outcome is disappointing, our determination remains unshaken. For 18 long years, we’ve suffered from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke, falling victim to the loophole that state legislators created that jeopardizes our lives. The court battle continues, and we will ask the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear this case on an expedited basis.”
Appeal coming in fight to ban smoking inside Atlantic City casinos
For several years, the fight to ban smoking inside AC casinos has wagered on, from urging lawmakers to pass legislation that would change the law to this latest effort of filing a lawsuit.
Casino workers brought forth this lawsuit in April in hopes of changing the law that allows casinos to offer smoking on 25% of casino floors.
Nancy Erika Smith, who represented the casino workers, told the Associated Press that they would appeal the ruling.
“While the rest of the nation moves away from poisoning workers for profits, New Jersey shames itself. As long as the Governor, the Legislature and the Courts allow the extremely rich casino industry to poison its workers, we will continue our fight.”
Atlantic City casino workers: ‘Do the right thing’
After the lawsuit was filed, Donna DeCaprio, president of UNITE Here Local 54 that represents thousands of casino employees, said that a smoking ban would be “catastrophic,” noting that between 50% and 72% of all gambling revenue won from in-person gamblers comes from smoking sections.
Similarly, casinos in Atlantic City warned that banning smoking would result in the loss of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in gambling revenue.
“We are gratified by the court’s decision to dismiss plaintiff’s complaint,” Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts Atlantic City and of the Casino Association of New Jersey, told the Associated Press, “and deny its attempt to change the Smoke-Free Air Act outside of the legislative process.”
Giannantonio noted that Atlantic City and the casino workers union “have taken significant steps over the years to create a healthier environment for employees and patrons, including limiting smoking to just a fraction of the floorspace.”
Giannantonio noted the desire to continue collaborating “towards a solution that addresses the health concerns of our employees, while also protecting the collective interest and well-being of the entire Atlantic City workforce.”
In a statement, co-founders of CEASE emphasized the need to do just that.
“[T]his ruling provides legislators with even more reason to uphold their responsibility to finally do the right thing and pass the bipartisan legislation that New Jerseyans overwhelmingly support. We ask: Will the legislature act on the safety of workers or will the legislature agree with the Court that ‘safety is not a fundamental right’?
“It’s time to give the thousands of casino workers the same protections afforded to every other New Jerseyan. Legislative leaders, specifically Chairman Bill Moen – who is the main sponsor of the bill – can and should pick up the gauntlet that the court has unfortunately dropped, to defend the health and lives of all New Jersey workers by advancing the legislation in both the Senate and Assembly to close this loophole once and for all. We’ve all been waiting long enough.”
