2007 National Conference on Tobacco or Health

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 - 4:30 PM
Room M 100 B

Tenants' And Condo Owners' Rights And Legal Remedies To Address Smoke Drift

Kathleen H. Dachille, JD, Center for Tobacco Regulation, University of Maryland School of Law, kdachille@law.umaryland.edu, Karen Blumenfeld, JD, NJ GASP, karen.blumenfeld@verizon.net, Robin Salsburg, JD, Public Health Institute, Technical Assistance Legal Center, rsalsburg@phi.org, Susan L. Schoenmarklin, JD, Smoke-Free Environments Law Project, lppi@wi.rr.com.

Learning Objectives: Identify the legal rights tenants and condo owners have regarding smoke drfit. Understand how to protect those rights through legal action. Know where to look for legal assistance.

Audience: Lawyers and public health advocates assisting or hoping to assist tenants and condo owners suffering from secondhand smoke drift. Key Points: Residents of multi-unit dwellings, such as apartments and condominiums, can suffer from exposure to secondhand smoke when a neighbor in an adjacent unit smokes. Shared ventilation systems, electrical panels, plumbing connections, poor or old construction, and shared hallways allow for the flow of smoke from one unit to another. The invasion can be minor, modest odor only at certain times, or profound, rendering all or part of the non-smokers' unit uninhabitable. Residents suffering from drifting secondhand smoke may have legal rights vis-à-vis the smoking neighbor, the landlord or the condominium association. Causes of action may range from the tort of common law nuisance, to the contractual warranties included in a lease, to statutory health and sanitation provisions or to disabilities rights laws. Learning Objectives: The panel, all lawyers working in tobacco control and public health, will discuss the elements of the most viable causes of action and discuss existing case law on these issues from across the country. The panel will provide guidance to those who may be assisting residents suffering from drifting secondhand smoke. Benefits: Attendees will leave the presentation with a basic understanding of residents' legal rights and options for enforcing them.