ANR UPDATE, 30(1), Spring 2011
Worker Wins Lawsuit
We introduced you to Vinny Rennich in 2007 when we made him ANR's Smokefree Hero of the Year. Vinny, a non-smoking casino dealer, worked in the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City for decades, inhaling secondhand smoke with every breath. Sadly, Vinny ended up with lung cancer.
Today, Vinny's health is improving and he settled his lawsuit with his former employer. While there is no financial sum that will ever give Vinny back his complete health, his $4.5 million settlement sends a strong message to casinos and other gaming facilities that they will eventually have to answer to employees like Vinny if they continue to allow for unsafe working environments.
Q) What was it like working for so many years in that
smoke-filled air?
A) I hated working in the smoke! Secondhand smoke made so many of us get sick.
There were constant health problems because of the smoke.
Q) What would you say to other casino workers working
in smoky casinos?
A) Get involved and fight for your right to work in a safe environment. Your
workplace is negligent to allow you to suffer in a place that might eventually
kill you.
Q) How's your health these days?
A) I am five and a half years out from having lung cancer surgery and trying
to live each day and enjoy what life has to offer. I am the most fortunate guy
I know with so many wonderful family members and friends. I hope my story made
it easy for others to find the courage to speak up, and fight the good fight
to work and play in a safe working environment. Thanks to everyone that encouraged
me and supported me.. One day, not too far in the future, casinos will be smokefree!
Q) Where are you working now, and what's that like?
A) I am working in a 100% smokefree casino now -- Dover Downs in Delaware. It
is wonderful to go to work each day knowing that it is a safe place. So many
of my friends and co-workers left good jobs and came here to work smokefree.
It is such a great place to work - best management I have ever had the pleasure
to work for and the property is so clean and has so much to offer. If a casino
worker tells you they have a killer job, believe them because it just might
be true.
................................................................................................................
"Be
my voice," Sheryl Wilkins.
Sheryl (Left) with Teresa Price, is a casino worker and battling Stage 4
throat cancer.
Learn more about Sheryl's story and others in our casino worker video, coming
this May.
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