Jump to full article: Columbus (OH) Dispatch, 2009-10-16
Author: James Nash THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Intro: Bar owners who try to keep their customers from smoking can't be penalized under the state's anti-smoking law just because a patron disobeys, an appeals court ruled yesterday.
The Franklin County Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's decision that a Toledo bar violated the statewide smoking ban because an inspector observed a lit cigarette in a mint tin.
The bartender at the Pour House said she told the patron that he couldn't smoke inside, and that the man left with the cigarette still smoldering.
A Lucas County inspector, operating on a tip about smoking at the bar in early 2008, found the lit cigarette and cited the business for violating the 2006 smoking ban. The bar was fined $500.
Attorneys for the Pour House said it and other bars shouldn't be punished for violating the smoking ban when they try to prevent customers from smoking.
The three-judge appeals court agreed.
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