The Business Of Law

“Then he bummed a cigarette and faded off to sleep”

So goes the lyrics in Kenny Rogers’ iconic 1978 song, The Gambler. That song, along with countless Hollywood movies featuring either the suave sophisticated gambler lighting a lady’s cigarette while playing blackjack, or the down on his luck gambler chain smoking as he loses the mortgage have helped cement the relationship between gambling and smoking. So ubiquitous is smoking at the tables, that the tables are literally designed with ashtrays built into them.

Against the backdrop of indoor smoking bans that are sweeping the country, it’s almost funny to see smoking indoors at casinos, yet for the thousands of workers at Las Vegas casinos, the exposure to second-hand smoke is no laughing matter.

Last week a suit was filed against Wynn Las Vegas and its parent Company Wynn Resorts Ltd. by employees who claimed that their health was affected by second-hand smoke. A similar suit was filed in July against Harrah’s entertainment owner of Caesars Palace hotel-casino.

The suits allege that Wynn and Caesar’s have knowingly exposed their workers to dangerous second-hand smoke and have failed to take common sense measures to limit that exposure. Specifically, the suits talk about other large casinos in Las Vegas, most notably the Bellagio and Palazzo who have either changed operations or installed technology to cut down on second-hand smoke on the gaming floors. Some casinos even designate as much as 50% of the gaming floor as non-smoking.

The lawsuits allege that Wynn and Caesars have resisted even these simple measures and what’s worse, they have threatened employees who complain about second-hand smoke with disciplinary action.

I’m not going to argue whether smoking should or should not be allowed in casinos, I’ll leave that to the politicians, but there is clearly a problem when employers are allegedly refusing to take common-sense measures to limit exposure, or when they are actually forcing employees to endure that exposure or risk being disciplined. If this was a factory where the boss forced workers to be exposed to asbestos without proper ventilation, or safety precautions, we’d be up in arms, but because it’s cigarette smoke, for some reason we’re a little less appalled.

I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of cases from the workers at these casinos who for years have been exposed to this harmful carcinogen. If this is of interest to you and you intend to pursue it further, please get in touch with me.