Court Orders Vermont VFW To Stop Allowing Smoking

February 4, 2008 - Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell applauded a Caledonia Superior Court decision issued on January 31, 2008, that prohibits smoking in a building operated by the Lyndonville VFW on Hill Street in Lyndonville. The court upheld the validity of Vermont’s Smoking in Public Places law and found the VFW in violation of the law.

The Smoking in Public Places law prohibits the possession of lighted tobacco products in the common areas of all enclosed indoor places of public access and requires proprietors of those places to take appropriate action to enforce that prohibition. In 2005, the Legislature amended the law to include buildings owned or operated by social and fraternal organizations, like the VFW. Despite the 2005 amendment, the VFW continued to allow smoking in its licensed bar area in the building, to which the public has access. The Attorney General’s Office, on behalf of Commissioner of Health Sharon Moffatt, filed suit to stop this ongoing violation of the law.

“We certainly respect the veterans for their service to our country, but they are not above the law,” Attorney General Sorrell stated.

“Exposure to secondhand smoke is a clear danger to Vermonters, causing early death and disease to those who do not smoke themselves,” said Health Commissioner Sharon Moffatt, RN, MSN.

Judge Thomas Zonay of the Caledonia Superior Court concluded that the Smoking in Public Places law prohibits the possession of lighted tobacco products in the enclosed indoor portions of the Lyndonville VFW’s facility. He ordered the VFW to cease allowing smoking in any form in the enclosed indoor portions of its facility and to take reasonable action to cause any person smoking to leave the premises.

“Second-hand smoke kills Vermonters. The Legislature spoke clearly. I’m happy the Court has upheld the law,” said Sorrell.

Source: Vermont Attorney General