The group of Atlantic City casino dealers known as Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) has joined with the union representing them, the United Auto Workers, to file a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey seeking to force a closure of the loophole that allows smoking in Atlantic City casinos.
The group has joined with the union and the national group Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) in a years-long campaign to end the casino exception in the state’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act, which banned indoor smoking at nearly all other public spaces.
Their efforts have been frustrated by lawmakers beholden to the casino lobby, which maintains the position that ending smoking in Atlantic City casinos would lead to an economic calamity ending in more casino closures.
A vote on a bill to end the casino smoking loophole was tabled at the last minute during last winter’s special legislative session. Hearings on new legislation that had been scheduled for March were delayed as legislators examined alternative proposals backed by the industry, one that would maintain the status quo of 25 percent smoking on casino floors and another that would create so-called “Philip Morris Smoking Rooms,” enclosed gaming spaces where employees would be assigned only if they agreed to work amid secondhand smoke.
The lawsuit filed in state Superior Court last week asks the court to overturn the 2006 law’s casino exemption as unconstitutional based on equal protection under the law and two other grounds. It seeks immediate injunctive relief.
CEASE members staged a rally outside the courthouse where the lawsuit was filed. Commenting to an Associated Press reporter, they said they are turning to the courts because they can’t convince New Jersey legislators to act.
“Today, we get off our knees and stand up!” shouted Lamont White, a dealer at the Borgata casino and one of the leaders of CEASE. “We offered them the carrot, and now they get the stick! If the legislators in Trenton won’t do their jobs, we’re going to take the decision out of their hands and into a courtroom.”
“The State of Jersey decided nearly 20 years ago that secondhand smoke was dangerous and that virtually every worker must be protected from exposure to it—except for us,” said White, Pete Naccarelli and Nicole Vitola, co-founders and co-leaders of CEASE, in a press release after the lawsuit was filed.
“The State of New Jersey has failed us, and we’re tired of seeing co-workers become sick or even die from a litany of diseases that could have been prevented. It’s shameful and it cannot continue. We are pursuing every angle to save our lives and the lives of thousands of our fellow casino workers in South Jersey. While we proceed with this lawsuit, our message to legislators in Trenton remains the same: pass the clean bill that solves this problem, once and for all.”
“You’re not asking for the moon—you’re asking to be treated like everybody else,” said U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who represents South Jersey, in remarks to workers at a press conference after the filing. “If I don’t want people smoking in the United States Capitol when I’m working, you don’t need to have people smoking where you’re working.”
Mark Giannantonio, president of the Casino Association of New Jersey and of Resorts casino, declined comment on the lawsuit for the AP story.
The association has consistently opposed banning smoking on casino floors, on the basis that it would put Atlantic City at a competitive disadvantage with nearby markets such as Pennsylvania that still allow smoking.
Anti-smoking groups have countered that argument by pointing to Parx Casino in Bensalem, a Philadelphia suburb, which banned smoking on the floor in the wake of the Covid crisis in 2020, but has maintained its position as the top-earning casino in Pennsylvania.
In addition to the state, the lawsuit names New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, although he has commented publicly that he will sign any smoking-ban legislation that reaches his desk.
Anti-smoking groups were quick to support the lawsuit. “This lawsuit adds to the urgency for New Jersey legislators to act to finally pass the bills that close the casino smoking loophole in state law and protect every New Jerseyan from the known, harmful effects of secondhand smoke,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of ANR, in a statement on the case.
“New Jersey’s casino workers deserve the same protections as every other worker in the state. Legislators can make the lawsuit a moot point if they simply pass the legislation that’s before them—S1493 and A2143—to close the casino smoking loophole.”
While the UAW has continued in the fight for a smoking ban, the other major Atlantic City casino union, Local 54 of UNITE HERE, opposes the smoking ban on the basis that business is already shaky in Atlantic City.
