New Jersey Hospitality Owners Sue State Over Casino- Exempt Smoking Ban
A group of New Jersey restaurant and bar owners filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday, asking the court to strike down a law that excludes only casinos from a ban on smoking in public places by declaring it to be unconstitutional.
The New Jersey Smoke- Free Act, which is scheduled to go into effect on April 15th, bans smoking in restaurants, bars, bowling halls, workplaces with more than three employees, and other public places. The law exempts, however, New Jersey’s Atlantic City casinos.
The restaurant, bar, and bowling lane hall owners claim that this exemption drives business away, creating an unfair and unjustifiable monopoly on smoking customers for the casinos.
"What's happening here is that the state of New Jersey is giving an unfair advantage to the Atlantic City casinos," said Armando Frallicciardi Jr., one of the most vocal plaintiffs in the case against the state of New Jersey. Frallicciardi owns Lorenzo's Restaurant, a Trenton restaurant that has been a favorite destination of cigar- smoking New Jersey residents for years.
"They already have the monopoly on gambling, and on giving drinks away at less than cost. Now they're going to give them another monopoly, letting them be the only place in the state you can smoke indoors?" Frallicciardi said.
The lawsuit was filed by the New Jersey Hospitality Industry for Fairness Coalition, the New Jersey Licensed Beverage Association, the New Jersey Restaurant Association, bowling alley owners, and several individual bars and restaurants. All claim that the law will harm their businesses, and that the casinos should be subject to the same rules as every other recreational place.
Any business that violates the law faces a fine of between $250 and $1,000.
Robert Gluck, a plaintiff’s attorney, said that his clients are merely asking to be treated fairly. If casinos were subject to the law as well, he claimed, there would not be a lawsuit.
"We'd be satisfied if it were across the board to everyone in the hospitality industry," he said. "The casino exemption is the nub of the case. For the life of us, we can't figure out why the casinos are exempted, except politics."
New Jersey is the 11th state to pass a ban on smoking in public places. Of the eleven laws, however, New Jersey’s is the only that excludes casinos from the ban. Lawmakers who say that they are strong supporters of the anti- smoking legislation say that the only way to pass any sort of smoking ban was to exempt the casinos. Too many legislators, fearing a loss of revenue from the casinos, refused to vote for a bill that did not exempt the casinos.
One of the bill’s sponsors, State Sen. John H. Adler, for example, said that he favors a complete ban of smoking, including in the casinos. However, he nevertheless favored the bill because it was, despite its loopholes, the only way to pass any sort of smoking ban.
New Jersey Hospitality Owners Sue State Over Casino- Exempt Smoking Ban
A group of New Jersey restaurant and bar owners filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday, asking the court to strike down a law that excludes only casinos from a ban on smoking in public places by declaring it to be unconstitutional.
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