ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — A judge on Friday enabled smokingcigarettes to continue in Atlantic City’s gamblingestablishments, providing some step of relief to the city’s havingahardtime gamblingestablishment market while rebuffing employees who have long lookedfor to be able to breathe tidy air on the gamblingestablishment flooring.
The judgment by Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels represented a significant success for the city’s 9 gamblingestablishments, most of which are winning less cash from in-person bettors than they did before the COVID19 pandemic hit.
But it was a huge a problem for employees who haveactually been attempting for 4 years to restriction cigarettesmoking in their offices, veryfirst by attempting to get legislators to modification the law, then by filing a claim. A legalrepresentative for the employees stated she will ask the state Supreme Court to thinkabout the case on an spedup basis.
The gamblingestablishments had cautioned that thousands of tasks and millions in gaming earnings and taxes might be lost if cigarettesmoking was prohibited.
“We are gratified by the court’s choice to dismiss complainant’s problem and reject its effort to modification the Smoke-Free Air Act exterior of the legal procedure,” stated Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts Casino and of the Casino Association of New Jersey.
He stated the market, the city and the primary gamblingestablishment employees union, Local 54 of Unite Here “have taken substantial actions over the years to produce a muchhealthier environment for workers and clients, consistingof restricting cigarettesmoking to simply a portion of the floorspace.”
“We appearance forward to continuing to work with stakeholders towards a service that addresses the health issues of our staffmembers, while likewise securing the cumulative interest and wellness of the whole Atlantic City laborforce,” Giannantonio stated.
Anti-smoking employees pledged to continue pressing for smoke-free gamblingestablishments.
“This battle is far from over,” stated Lamont White, a Borgata dealership and a leader of the anti-smoking motion. “While today’s result is frustrating, our decision stays unshaken.”
White stated the judgment provides lawmakers “even more factor to promote their duty to