Lawsuit: Caesar's Palace Employees Injured from Second-Hand Smoke
Class action lawsuit follows federal study finding unsafe working conditions at Las Vegas casinos.
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(PRNewsChannel) / July 23, 2009 /
Las Vegas, Nev. / A class action lawsuit filed in federal court seeks to protect Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino employees from the effects of second-hand smoke.
The suit alleges that Caesar’s Palace is failing to provide a safe work environment for its employees.
“We are not asking that Caesar’s Palace become smoke free,” says Jay Edelson, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit. "They must take steps to protect the health of their employees. That's reasonable and it's humane."
It is well established that second-hand smoke is a health risk to non-smokers. The risks are exacerbated for employees at Caesar’s Palace, where smoking is not only permitted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but is also encouraged. Cigarettes are sold, and in some cases given away, to gamblers on the casino floor.
Some casinos in Las Vegas have taken steps to protect their employees from second-hand smoke.
Not only has Caesars done nothing, the suit alleges, but the problem has gotten worse since Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. took over operations at Caesar’s Palace. When that happened, non-smoking gaming areas were allegedly removed from the casino floor. The suit claims that employees are also not allowed to request that customers move their ashtrays, or blow smoke away from the tables.
The suit further claims employees that complain about the smoke risk losing their jobs.
A recent study by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health of three Las Vegas Casinos, including Caesar’s Palace, found that employees are continually exposed to the same cancer causing chemicals that smokers inhale, and that these chemicals exist in the bloodstreams of employees working in the gaming area of Caesar’s Palace to a greater degree than other employees.
The suit is brought on behalf of all employees at Caesar’s Palace by Tomo Stephens, a former table dealer at Caesars for twenty years. Ms. Stephens was found to have developed pre-cancerous cells in her stomach and was warned by her doctor that if she did not quit working she was at risk of developing stomach cancer. Ms. Stephens was provided no severance nor even a sympathy call after informing Caesars’ of her need to resign. Due to the loss of income, her house is facing foreclosure.
The suit asks the court to require that Caesar’s Palace take steps to protect its employees, including installing ventilation systems that minimize second-hand smoke, designating certain sections as non-smoking, and accommodating employees who are adversely affected by second-hand smoke.
To download a copy of the lawsuit, please visit https://prnewschannel.com/pdf/Caesars_Class_Action_7_23.pdf
About Jay Edelson: Edelson (http://www.kamberedelson.com/Edelson.html) has a reputation for bringing, and winning high profile class action lawsuits. Edelson successfully prosecuted a mass action on behalf of employees of a riverboat casino for second hand smoke. Last year, he settled a nationwide case involving lead paint contamination with Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Wooden Railway children’s toys that was valued at over $30 million. Edelson’s firm also was lead counsel in the lawsuits coming out of the 2008 contaminated pet food recall, which resulted in a settlement of over $24 million. Edelson testified before the U.S. Senate in connection with that case.
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Source: kamberedelson.com
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