i'm sorry for the guy, but nobody forced him to work there.
ATLANTIC CITY — A long-term casino employee who never smoked has filed suit against his employer, claiming a smoke-filled gaming floor caused his lung cancer.
Vincent Rennich, 48, sued Aztar Corporation, the parent company of the Tropicana Casino and Resort, for doing nothing to protect employees from breathing second-hand smoke, which contains more than 60 known cancer-causing substances, all the while spending millions of dollars lobbying for the right to allow smoking in casinos.
The suit, filed in Superior Court in Atlantic City, seeks a court order to stop the Tropicana from operating “in an unsafe and dangerous manner” and to recoup Rennich's medical bills, future lost income and punitive damages. Rennich's wife, Lynn, is also suing for the companionship and support she expects her husband's illness will cost her.
“My health has been compromised, my future is at stake, my chance of survival is minimal,” Rennich said Tuesday. “This is not about money,” but about the thousands of men and women who must breathe second-hand smoke to earn a living, he said.
The casinos should have banned smoking the day the U.S. Surgeon General's report on the dangers of second-hand smoke was issued last month, Rennich said.
A state law banning smoking in all indoor public areas went into effect April 15, but the gaming floors of casinos are exempt.
In his complaint, Rennich said he never smoked a cigarette in his life. But he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year after working as a table-games supervisor at the Tropicana since 1981. In September, Rennich had surgery to remove the top lobe of his right lung, and his doctors said there is an 80 percent chance the cancer will recur.
The casino failed to warn employees about the dangers of second-hand smoke and did not use things such as ventilation equipment and air-cleaning devices in an effort to provide a healthy and safe work environment, the suit claims.
Aztar Corporation “purposefully endangers the health of casino workers because (it) has decided it is more important to accommodate customers who want to smoke while gambling than to insure the health and welfare” of its employees, the suit claims. It asserts that the company had “actual malice” or “a wanton and willful disregard of persons who foreseeably might be harmed by those acts or omissions.”
According to the lawsuit, former President Dennis Gomes, in an effort to battle the New Jersey Legislature's efforts to ban smoking in casinos, said he recognizes the health concerns, “but there's a pragmatic concern we have for our customers who enjoy smoking while gambling.”
This is despite the fact that the New Jersey Worker Health and Safety Act requires employers to provide adequate ventilation in the workplace, and all employers have a duty to provide a healthy work environment, the suit claims.
Nicholas Moles, general counsel for the Tropicana, said Tuesday he has not seen the complaint and would not comment on pending litigation.
This is not the first time casino employees have sued over exposure to second-hand smoke.
A group of employees at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino filed a class-action suit against the tobacco industry in 1998, claiming the products they sell compromise their health. The suit was later dismissed.
This suit is not a class-action case, said Rennich's attorney, Jeffrey I. Carton, of the White Plains, N.Y., firm Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Emerz, on Tuesday. It is about whether Rennich was afforded the workplace protections that any employee would otherwise expect and to get compensation for the damage he and his wife suffered.
The suit also aims to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future, Carton said. If it serves as a catalyst for a debate on smoke-free casinos, that's a bonus.
Joseph Corbo Jr., president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, also declined to comment Tuesday, saying it is not a matter concerning the association, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, people seeking to ban smoking in casinos said Rennich's case indicates the need to move forward.
The American Cancer Society cannot comment on the lawsuit, but “we have worked with Vince in the past and his story illustrates why it's time to close the loophole in New Jersey's smoke-free legislation,” Tom Duffy, executive vice president for the New Jersey and New York regions said Tuesday in a released statement.
Assemblyman Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, who has introduced a measure to include the casinos in the state smoking ban, said Tuesday that such a measure is inevitable. It's a matter of when and how.
“It's not going to happen today, it's not going to happen tomorrow, but I think in the not-too-distant future, we will see a real smoking ban,” Whelan said. “That's a societal trend.”
Vincent Rennich, 48, sued Aztar Corporation, the parent company of the Tropicana Casino and Resort, for doing nothing to protect employees from breathing second-hand smoke, which contains more than 60 known cancer-causing substances, all the while spending millions of dollars lobbying for the right to allow smoking in casinos.
The suit, filed in Superior Court in Atlantic City, seeks a court order to stop the Tropicana from operating “in an unsafe and dangerous manner” and to recoup Rennich's medical bills, future lost income and punitive damages. Rennich's wife, Lynn, is also suing for the companionship and support she expects her husband's illness will cost her.
“My health has been compromised, my future is at stake, my chance of survival is minimal,” Rennich said Tuesday. “This is not about money,” but about the thousands of men and women who must breathe second-hand smoke to earn a living, he said.
The casinos should have banned smoking the day the U.S. Surgeon General's report on the dangers of second-hand smoke was issued last month, Rennich said.
A state law banning smoking in all indoor public areas went into effect April 15, but the gaming floors of casinos are exempt.
In his complaint, Rennich said he never smoked a cigarette in his life. But he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year after working as a table-games supervisor at the Tropicana since 1981. In September, Rennich had surgery to remove the top lobe of his right lung, and his doctors said there is an 80 percent chance the cancer will recur.
The casino failed to warn employees about the dangers of second-hand smoke and did not use things such as ventilation equipment and air-cleaning devices in an effort to provide a healthy and safe work environment, the suit claims.
Aztar Corporation “purposefully endangers the health of casino workers because (it) has decided it is more important to accommodate customers who want to smoke while gambling than to insure the health and welfare” of its employees, the suit claims. It asserts that the company had “actual malice” or “a wanton and willful disregard of persons who foreseeably might be harmed by those acts or omissions.”
According to the lawsuit, former President Dennis Gomes, in an effort to battle the New Jersey Legislature's efforts to ban smoking in casinos, said he recognizes the health concerns, “but there's a pragmatic concern we have for our customers who enjoy smoking while gambling.”
This is despite the fact that the New Jersey Worker Health and Safety Act requires employers to provide adequate ventilation in the workplace, and all employers have a duty to provide a healthy work environment, the suit claims.
Nicholas Moles, general counsel for the Tropicana, said Tuesday he has not seen the complaint and would not comment on pending litigation.
This is not the first time casino employees have sued over exposure to second-hand smoke.
A group of employees at the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino filed a class-action suit against the tobacco industry in 1998, claiming the products they sell compromise their health. The suit was later dismissed.
This suit is not a class-action case, said Rennich's attorney, Jeffrey I. Carton, of the White Plains, N.Y., firm Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Emerz, on Tuesday. It is about whether Rennich was afforded the workplace protections that any employee would otherwise expect and to get compensation for the damage he and his wife suffered.
The suit also aims to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future, Carton said. If it serves as a catalyst for a debate on smoke-free casinos, that's a bonus.
Joseph Corbo Jr., president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, also declined to comment Tuesday, saying it is not a matter concerning the association, a spokesman said.
Meanwhile, people seeking to ban smoking in casinos said Rennich's case indicates the need to move forward.
The American Cancer Society cannot comment on the lawsuit, but “we have worked with Vince in the past and his story illustrates why it's time to close the loophole in New Jersey's smoke-free legislation,” Tom Duffy, executive vice president for the New Jersey and New York regions said Tuesday in a released statement.
Assemblyman Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, who has introduced a measure to include the casinos in the state smoking ban, said Tuesday that such a measure is inevitable. It's a matter of when and how.
“It's not going to happen today, it's not going to happen tomorrow, but I think in the not-too-distant future, we will see a real smoking ban,” Whelan said. “That's a societal trend.”
