Secondhand Smoke

Hope you saw my story on Secondhand Smoke Dangers. We talked to a woman who worked at Caesars Palace as a dealer for 25 years. She was instrumental in getting the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to do a study on the effect of secondhand smoke on non poker dealers. Non poker dealers were chosen since many poker rooms, including the one at Caesars, are non smoking. Thought I'd pass along a couple emails from viewers after the story aired.

I have been a dealer at Caesars for many years and knew Terri Price. She was an excellent dealer and a perfect vision of courtesy that we want a tourist to remember Las Vegas for. It is a crying shame that these corporations, especially Harrahs, has ruined our industry and taken away the pride that we felt working for Caesars Palace. Jan Laverty- Jones lied when she said that improvements had been made to our ventilation system, when in fact, we can hardly get enough air turned on to cool the place much less a continuous circulation of air. Our total working conditions and environment is continually deteriorating. There has been over 50 dealers and/or casino workers at Caesars that has had cancer, most died, and that does not include all the dealers that retired or left that we are unaware of. A very large percentage of the dealers now have respiratory problems such as asthma. With that said, our VP of Casino Operations, Jimmy Wike, had the audacity to tell us we could not wave the smoke out of our face when the customer intentionally blows it on us. Why are we treated as sub-citizens for the almighty dollar? The corporate management certainly does not work in a smoke filled environment as they take all the money from our local economy. It is time for Americans, especially front line casino workers, to wake up and demand their working conditions improve.This type of mentality and greed is why the dealers at Caesars Palace voted in the union two years ago.
A long time dealer!

and this one...

It is very popular to attack smokers and defend all against them. It is also not a very smart choice when it comes to the economics of running a business. Terry should have been fired for offending a guest. When Terry applied for her job was she so ignorant that she did not know people smoke in casinos? If so she should be terminated for ignorance.

Legal brothels hire women who should know there may be some sex involved in their job. Should they be able to sue when it happens? People need to be responsible for their own choices. If the casino cannot get applicants because of the job conditions they will change on their own. When all the nannies get out of business we may recover. It’s pretty clear the nannies have it now and will do their best to stifle commerce.

Yes, I am jaded. I do enjoy a smoke. I never have and never will go anywhere to spend my recreational dollars at a business that hates me because I do enjoy a smoke.