Attorney General Matthew Platkin Says Smoking Ban Lawsuit Is “Without Merit”

The casino employees and local chapter that issued a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey regarding smoking in Atlantic City casinos now have additional competition: the UNITE Here Local 54 union, which represents about 10,000 casino employees, and the New Jersey Attorney General have asked the Superior Court to dismiss the lawsuit. 

In the court documents, Local 54 states that up to a third of the members risk losing their jobs should the smoking ban get passed. AG Matthew Platkin, who was representing Governor Phil Murphy and the state health department, said that the plaintiff in this case made claims that were without merit and asked that the court dismiss the lawsuit altogether. 

The plaintiff in this case, United Auto Workers Region 9, who represent table games dealers across numerous casinos like Ballys, Caesars, and Tropicana (which also have NJ online casino presence), along with Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects (C.E.A.S.E), filed this lawsuit on April 5. 

In the suit, the plaintiff accuses Governor Murphy and the NJ Department of Health of violating Atlantic City’s rights to safety and protection due to exempting casinos from the Smoke-Free Air Act of 2006. They also state that the Smoke-Free Air Act is unconstitutional. 

Right now, the city ordinance caps indoor smoking at no more than 25% of the casino floor, but enforcement is subjective. Bills have been introduced to the state Senate and General Assembly in the past to close the loophole. Governor Murphy has said he’d sign the bill into law if it passed in the State Legislature. 

Donna DeCaprio Testimony

Donna DeCaprio, president of Local 54, testified against the bills during past hearings held in Trenton. 

“We support the health and safety of our members and believe that improvements to the current work environment must be made. A balance needs to be reached that will both protect worker health and preserve good jobs.” DeCaprio told the Associated Press.

DeCaprio also said that an all-out smoking ban would be “catastrophic” and that between 50% and 72% of all gambling revenue won at retail casinos comes from smoking sections.  

The union backs the current 25% threshold and also proposes that allowing people to smoke near slot machines that are 15 feet away from live dealer table games should be permitted. 

“Instead of fighting for the health and safety of workers, Local 54 is battling in a court of law to allow casinos to keep poisoning their members with toxic secondhand smoke,” Nicole Vitola, a founding member of C.E.A.S.E and dealer at AC’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, told the Associated Press.

The attorney representing UAW and C.E.A.S.E. was surprised at Local 54’s position on the matter. 

“I have never seen a union fight against the health and safety of their members, not once. Luckily, Unite’s economic arguments, while false, have absolutely no relevance to the constitutional question at hand.”

Now, we wait to see what the outcome of this lawsuit will be following Local 54 and the Attorney General hitting back at it.