Nonsmokers Can Sue for Smoking Ban

U.S. Appeals Court Says Nonsmokers Can Sue for Smoking Ban

Allergic Kids May Seek Smoking Ban at McDonald's Under Disabilities Act

But Decision Applies to Adults and Many Other Public Areas Also

In a decision which opens the courthouse door for millions of nonsmokers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York has ruled that sensitive nonsmokers are entitled to protection from secondhand tobacco smoke under the Americans With Disabilities Act. As such, the court said, they may be able to obtain a total smoking ban in restaurants and other public places if it is appropriate to protect them from allergic reactions and other medical problems brought on by exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.

"This provides a powerful new weapon in the war for nonsmokers' rights," says law professor John Banzhaf, who helped develop the legal theory under which sensitive nonsmokers can seek protection under statutes designed to protect the handicapped and disabled. "Smoking in a building is as much a barrier to entry for as asthmatic as a flight of stairs without a ramp is to a person in a wheelchair," he argued, and the law requires that a reasonable accommodation be made to each.

"Since McDonald and many other fast-food restaurants already have banned smoking, it will be hard to argue that such a ban is unreasonable," he said. The case decided by the appellate court involved a challenge to smoking policies at McDonald's and several other fast-food chains.

Banzhaf, who is also Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said that it is far more reasonable to ask adults to refrain from smoking during the 15 minutes it takes to eat a Big Mac than to ask asthmatic children not to breathe during that period of time, or to be barred from one of the most popular eating places among their peers. Banzhaf said his legal-action anti-smoking organization will be encouraging and assisting many others to bring similar law suits for smoke-free air.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, April 6, 1995

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL: John Banzhaf (202) 659-4310

Return to PR List