Atlantic City casino workers are asking the New Jersey Supreme Court to step in on the state’s long-running casino smoking fight, arguing that the current legal framework forces them to keep working in conditions that violate workers constitutional right to a safe workspace. The petition comes after the Appellate Division left smoking in place for now, but reopened key parts of the case and sent it back for further proceedings.
The dispute is no longer only political. For years, casino workers tried to end the exemption through legislation. Now the argument is centered on the state constitution, including whether the casino carveout in the Smoke-Free Air Act can survive when workers say secondhand smoke remains a known workplace hazard.
Petition focuses on a constitutional “right to safety”
The petition to the New Jersey Supreme Court argues that casino workers are being denied a constitutional right to work in a safe environment. In the filing, petitioners describe more than 6,000 workers being exposed to secondhand smoke on casino floors and ask the court to resolve the constitutional question rather than leave the issue in prolonged litigation.
That argument goes directly at the current exemption in N.J.S.A. 26:3D-59(e), which excludes parts of casinos and casino simulcasting facilities from the state’s indoor smoking restrictions. Workers say the exemption leaves them singled out as one of the few groups in New Jersey still expected to work around indoor smoking.
Appeals court reopened the case but kept smoking in place
In January, the Appellate Division affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction, meaning smoking was not immediately stopped. But it also vacated the dismissal of the lawsuit and the denial of permanent relief, finding the lower court had prematurely accepted disputed economic arguments and had not properly performed the required constitutional balancing on equal protection for employers and employees.
That ruling gave workers part of what they wanted and denied the rest. It kept the case alive, but it also left them working under the same conditions while the record is rebuilt. That is why the Supreme Court petition matters now. It is an attempt to move the case higher and faster, rather than wait through another round of talks while the exemption remains intact.
The legal fight is now about more than casino policy
The state and casino interests have continued to frame the exemption as a policy choice tied to revenue, jobs, and Atlantic City’s competitive position. Workers are pushing back with a narrower argument: even if the economics are disputed, no other New Jersey workplace would be expected to absorb this level of secondhand smoke exposure as a condition of employment. That is the conflict now sitting in front of the state’s highest court.
