30 Jun

New York Chefs Say No to E-cigarettes

While electronic cigarettes have seen a tenfold rise in sales over the last year, U.K. Daily Mail reports that many owners of New York’s most exclusive restaurants are not as enthusiastic about the recent trend. Smoking in restaurants has long been banned across the United States, but e-cigarettes present a new set of issues for chefs and restaurant owners. While the cigarettes do not technically produce second-hand smoke from tobacco, many do contain nicotine and other harmful toxins. Most chefs interviewed unanimously disliked the look of e-cigarettes, proclaiming them to be “tacky” and a distraction to other patrons. Other chefs claim the cigarettes emit a distinct odor.

Not all restaurant smoking laws prohibit the use of e-cigarettes, and this raises a unique question as to the rights of business owners to ban e-cigarettes and possible litigation that may arise in reaction to this form of smoking.

Read the FULL STORY HERE.

Stephen Barth
Stephen Barth Stephen Barth, an attorney, professor, and author of Hospitality Law, Intelligent Emotions: On Self Responsibility, Owning Our Emotional Power and Changing Our Reactions, and co-author of Restaurant Law Basics, is well-versed in the world of hospitality law. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Houston, Conrad N. Hilton College, he was an adjunct professor at Texas Tech University. With over twenty years of experience in hospitality operations, including line positions, management, and ownership, Professor Barth is a regular guest speaker covering a variety of issues for national, regional, and local industry associations and businesses. Professor Barth is a member of a select group of instructors worldwide designated by the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association to instruct its Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) program. Recently, he has been quoted in many national publications including Hotel News Now, Leisure & Hospitality International, USA Today, Successful Meetings, NBC News, and the Los Angeles Times.