Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE), United Auto Workers (UAW), and public health advocates rallied on Monday in New Jersey, as a lawsuit against ending an exemption to the state’s Smoke-Free Air Act got a hearing date in the appellate court.
Indoor Smoking Pushback Continues in New Jersey’s Casinos
Anti-smoking advocates have been fighting an uphill battle against the exemption, which has allowed gaming floors to continue operating at a certain capacity, hosting smokers and exposing casino staffers to the effects of second-hand smoking. The quality of air has been poor, too, in areas infiltrated by indoor smoking.
CEASE has cited ample evidence that this environment is directly tied to the deaths of casino staffers, and has repeatedly insisted that people should not be forced to choose between their livelihood and their lives.
“We all know secondhand smoke kills, creates all kinds of diseases, but nobody seems to care about the workers in the casino.
They wanted to kick the can down the road, saying, ‘Wait for the legislature. Wait for the legislature.’ I hope the courts do their job, because we’ve been at this since July of 2021, and the legislature has not helped us,” said Lamon White, an Atlantic City table games dealer and co-founder of CEASE.
White was referring to the fact that bipartisan support has been shown to favor an end to the exemption, but economic considerations have made politicians hesitant to act and pay the political capital that could come from reducing the casinos’ competitiveness, as maintained by business insiders.
Legal Say-So Needed to End the Exemption
Yet, CEASE has stuck to its guns, arguing that there is no credible evidence to suggest that properties stand to lose on their revenue for ending the smoking ban, citing comparative studies from properties and states that have done so, showing data that fewer people in casinos smoke, and other relevant data-driven fact sheets.
“We’re asking the court to find the exemption in New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act unconstitutional and void it immediately. We hope this case will serve as a precedent for casinos across the country to close their smoking loopholes and stop poisoning their workers,” Nancy Erika Smith, CEASE and the UAW lawyer representing the case, said.
A cynical argument was delivered by Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels in 2024, when he argued that the exemption did not violate the state’s constitution, as argued at the time by the plaintiffs.
He simply stated that smoking has always been permitted inside casinos, and that people had a choice – not to work there.