Sal's Restaurant, Inc. v. Dep't of Health, Bureau of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction (Pennsylvania)

A restaurant owner challenged the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s determination that the restaurant did not comply with the requirements for an exception to Pennsylvania’s Clean Indoor Air Act to allow smoking in the bar section of their establishment.  The law banned smoking in indoor public places, but allowed certain exceptions.   The establishment had a bar area, a dining area and a shared hallway with bathrooms for both areas.  The bar area was separated by swinging saloon style doors that did not cover the entire doorway, thus allowing smoke to filter into the shared hallway.  The establishment sought an exception to allow smoking in the bar area but the state agency determined that the bar did not meet the enclosed requirement to prevent smoke from getting out of the smoking area.  The court held that despite attempts to comply with the requirements, the restaurant still did not fulfill the statute and was not compliant by the statutorily required time.  The court affirmed the state agency’s ruling denying the application for exception to the non-smoking law.

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Sal's Restaurant, Inc. v. Dep't of Health, Bureau of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, No. 1 379 C.D. 2012 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2013)

  • United States
  • Apr 4, 2013
  • Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

Parties

Plaintiff Sal's Restaurant, Inc.

Defendant Department of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction

Legislation Cited

Clean Indoor Air Act 35 P.S. §§637.1 – 637.11

Related Documents

Type of Litigation

Tobacco Control Topics

Substantive Issues

Type of Tobacco Product

None