Casino workers want court to order health monitoring

Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000 | 10:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A group of Clark County casino workers, who fear their health may be impaired by secondhand smoke, wants the Nevada Supreme Court to rule that tobacco companies can be forced to pay for monitoring their their medical condition in the future.

But tobacco companies say that would be a "radical change" in the Nevada legal system, which requires someone to have concrete proof of an injury before an award of damages can be made.

The full seven-member court will hear oral arguments on this and other cases Thursday and rule later.

Four lawsuits regarding secondhand smoke in casinos have been filed in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro, who is assigned the cases, has asked the Nevada Supreme Court for a ruling on whether common law in Nevada permits a "medical monitoring" suit.

If so, Pro wants to know what the potential victims must show to prove they are entitled to continual monitoring of their health to safeguard against diseases associated with local-term exposure to tobacco smoke.

Pro will not decide on the federal suits until after the Supreme Court ruling.

The tobacco companies argue that people may not recover damages unless there's proof of physical injury. They also argue that this is an issue for the Nevada Legislature, not the Supreme Court.

Also Thursday, the high court will consider the appeal of former Family Court Judge Fran Fine, who was ordered removed from the bench by the state Judicial Discipline Commission in October 1998.

Fine was found guilty of talking to one side of a case without the other side being present, a violation of judicial rules.

The commission also said Fine appointed her first cousin, Faith Garfield, to serve as a mediator in a case without disclosing the relationship to the parties. She then ordered the parties to show cause why they should not be cited for contempt for not paying Garfield.

Fine is challenging her removal.

And lawyers for killer Gregory Leonard, sentenced to death for the robbery-murder of Tony Antee, will ask for a new trial on grounds errors were committed when he was convicted of first-degree murder.

Pre-hearing briefs filed by the defense say Leonard was first represented by David Wall of the public defender's office in Clark County. Wall then went to work for the district attorney's office.

Leonard's attorneys will argue that the district attorney's office should have been barred from prosecuting the case. The defense will also argue that evidence was improperly suppressed and that the state failed to preserve evidence that was critical to Leonard's case.