American Legion Post No. 149 v. Department of Health

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that Washington's Smoking in Public Places Act prohibits smoking in an American Legion post because the facility qualifies as a place of employment, even though it is a private facility. The court also upheld the smoking prohibition as applied to the post against challenges under the Washington Constitution, the United States Constitution, and related constitutional doctrines. The court affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to the Department of Health and Kitsap County Health District.

Holdings

1. The Act prohibits smoking in a private facility when the facility qualifies as a place of employment. The private-facility exception limits the definition of a public place and does not exempt places of employment from the separate prohibition in RCW 70.160.030.
2. The Post lacked representational standing to challenge the Act on behalf of its members because smoking was not germane to the purposes of the American Legion or the local Post.
3. The Act does not violate article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution or federal substantive due process because smoking is not a fundamental right or protected privacy interest and the smoking prohibition satisfies rational-basis review.
4. The Act does not violate article I, section 12 of the Washington Constitution because the ability to smoke inside a place of employment is not a fundamental right or privilege of state citizenship.
5. The Act does not violate equal protection because smokers and private facilities are not suspect classes, smoking is not a fundamental right, and the statutory distinctions are rationally related to protecting employees from secondhand smoke.
6. The Act is not unconstitutionally vague as applied to the Post because an ordinary person would understand that smoking is prohibited in an area controlled by an employer where employees are required to work.
7. The Department of Health and Kitsap County Health District, as prevailing parties, were entitled to costs, including statutory attorney fees; the Post was not entitled to fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Washington's Smoking in Public Places Act prohibits smoking in a private facility that qualifies as a place of employment.
2. Whether the Post had standing to assert constitutional claims on behalf of its members.
3. Whether the Act violates article I, section 7 of the Washington Constitution.
4. Whether the Act violates article I, section 12 of the Washington Constitution.
5. Whether the Act violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
6. Whether the Act is unconstitutionally vague under the Washington and United States Constitutions.
7. Whether any party is entitled to attorney fees and costs.

Disposition

affirmed