December 3rd, 2010 – by Glen Farmer
The Tropicana Casino And Resort in Atlantic City has recently settled in court to pay an ex-employee $4.5 million dollars restitution. The former casino employee made the claim that his 25 years of working in the casino exposed him to dangerous levels of second hand smoke.
The plaintiff, Vince Rennich, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005. A third of his right lung had been removed in September of the same year, though he claims that he has recovered. Rennich also stated that he had never personally smoked.
Rennich has since moved to Dover Downs. This Delaware based casino does not allow smokers to puff in the building.
The lawsuit began in 2006, and was filed prior to the change in ownership of the Tropicana.
In Atlantic City, 25% a casino’s floor is eligible to be a smoking section.
Similar lawsuits have targeted casinos in Las Vegas as well. Employees of many casinos have made efforts to bring smoking bans into the casinos in which they work. While some states have made it a point to ban smoking indoors, others have not.
Unions have also taken steps in some locations to pull smoking out of casinos. Efforts are not always successful, however.