Some Atlantic City casino workers asked an appeals court panel to ban smoking in the city’s gambling halls Monday, the same day that New York state granted licenses to three new casinos that will compete with the seaside resort.
Attorneys for the casino workers told the three-judge panel that the state’s current smoking law deprives casino workers of the right to breathe clean air at work that virtually all other occupations enjoy.
Their main lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, argued that the law should be overturned because there is a right to safety in the state’s Constitution — an assertion the state Attorney General’s Office said is incorrect.
A judge ruled in favor of the casinos and against the workers in August 2024.
