Commerce Casino - Forcing employes to work smoking room

[nosmokes]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Can a casino force non-smoking employees to work in a smoking room? If no, where can i go report and fight back?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? yesWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Can a casino force non-smoking employees to work in a smoking room? If no, where can i go report and fight back?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? yesWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

**A: where exactly is this because there are not supposed to be casino's in CA on US land.

 

[justalayman]

**A: where exactly is this because there are not supposed to be casino's in CA on US land.

On Indian lands

Temecula, California

Highland, California

Alpine, California

Cabazon, California

Pala, California

Lakeside, California

and many others.

 

[nosmokes]

This is a casino in Commerce, CA address is:

6131 East Telegraph Road
Commerce, CA 90040

 

[Zigner]

It's there - I drive past it twice a day

 

[sandyclaus]

**A: where exactly is this because there are not supposed to be casino's in CA on US land.

Here in Southern California, we are allowed to have poker casinos. And there are a lot of them in the areas surrounding the City of Los Angeles.

 

[canhelp]

working conditions do not really come under workers compensation insurance injury issues.
you might also try the labor/employment law boards on this site.

state workers comp laws do not apply to Native American businesses located on Native American lands.

whether other state laws on smoking, health & safety apply on tribal lands
contact Cal OSHA
DOSH - Consultation service area offices

or your local labor commissioner
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement - District offices

 

[nosmokes]

I just read their website faq and they claim be a privately owned company and not indian owned.

"Q. Is your Casino Indian Owned?
A. No, Commerce Casino is a privately owned Casino."

 

[justalayman]

correct. It is not Indian owned.

I had to chuckle when I read this from their FAQ's:

Q. Do you offer Free Poker lessons?
A. Yes, we offer free lessons for all of our games, 24 hours a day.

lesson 1.

put your bet on the table. When you lose, we get to keep your money.



lesson 2.

put more money on the table. when you lose again, we get to keep your money.

So, how many more lessons do you want?

this too is from their FAQ's:

Q. Is smoking allowed?
A. We are a smoke-free casino, however, smoking is allowed outside and in designated non-gaming smoking rooms.

 

[ecmst12]

I thought it was illegal to smoke anywhere indoors in the entire state of CA. Guess not

 

[supa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Can a casino force non-smoking employees to work in a smoking room? If no, where can i go report and fight back?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? yesWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

I have a friend who works at Commerce. Some background information based on the research I did. California does have a law prohibiting all indoor workplace smoking (casino was initially exempted but that expired in 1998). However, there is ambiguity on what constitutes a room, and a prior court challenge defines a room to be four walls and a roof. What Commerce did is to build what it effectively deems a large tent, as opposed to a room. It is therefore "legal." To challenge that, you will have to engage an attorney and take them to court.

Secondly, I contacted Commerce City Attorney (enforcement of smoking laws is done at a county level) who, after leaving multiple voicemails for 4 weeks, indicated that the only thing that would concern him was whether Commerce received a proper permit to build the structure. If it did, that'd be the end of his inquiry. Without requesting to see the permit via public record request, I would venture to guess that Commerce has the proper permit before investing millions of dollars to build the structure. According to City Attorney, any further action falls on the individual and not the City of Commerce. He does not and will not consider the legality of a room versus a tent. Note that Bicycle Casino has been running a similar "tent" set up since 1999. Their employees eventually gave in unfortunately. There was talk of a legal challenge when it was first opened (LA Times even did a piece on it) but that never went anywhere.

A couple of things you may consider without spending money on an attorney. 1) Contact KCAL9 or other local television channels if they would be interested in doing an investigative piece on the new smoking room at Commerce 2) Speak with your co-workers to see if they'd be interested in forming a union, which would then allow you a much more organized and effective counter-measure. You may want to look into Local 11 union, who specializes in hotel and casino industry (LATEST NEWS - UNITE HERE Local 11).

Hope this helps. Best of luck.