Lawsuits by Casino Workers

from: Trends in Smokefree Gaming

By Karen Blumenfeld, Esq.
Director, Tobacco Control Policy and Legal Resource Center
January 31, 2006

Concern about being sued by a worker who is getting sick from secondhand smoke can motivate employers to change their smoking policies. Employees around the globe are becoming sick from secondhand smoke, and are taking their employers to court. Generally speaking, most cases settle of out court and are not reported. However, here are some settlements and decisions of legal cases brought by casino workers:

• In response to a Montreal casino's pregnant worker, whose union supported her, the casinos voluntarily went smokefree. Starting in 2006, the Quebec province's smokefree law will be in effect, including in casinos.
• In June 2002, a class action employee lawsuit over the air quality of the Kenner riverboat casino in Louisiana was settled. Employees alleged that the ventilation system on the vessel was faulty and re-circulated smoky air, making them sick. One thousand current and former Treasure Chest employees will receive money from the $2.6 million settlement.
• In Ontario Canada, in April 2005, an ex-casino worker was awarded employment insurance benefits; he had to quit his job because he was getting sick from ETS on the job. He is 36 years old and worked at Casino Rama for six years.
• In Halifax Canada, in May 2003, a female casino worker was the first Canadian to win employment insurance benefits.
• In January 2004, an employee of the Napoleon's Casino in London, where he worked as an inspector for fourteen years, settled for almost $100,000.

A plethora of cases exists throughout the United States on worker health protection. In New Jersey, employees have won cases that have involved secondhand smoke in the workplace. Decisions have included a mandate for a smokefree workplace, if there is not statute that requires it, as in the 1976 New Jersey case, Shimp v. NJ Bell (office setting), or a workers compensation award as in Magaw v. Middletown Board of Education. In New York, a state prison employee won a major monetary award in his case, McKinney v. Anderson.

Employees may bring challenges under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and/or a state law version (but not in Native American casinos, which are exempt under the term "'employer" in the ADA statute).

This page updated November 9, 2006