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Calling all persons who have ever worked in any capacity, past or present, in a restaurant, bar, or nightclub in the state of New York to join BREATHE NY. 

 

BREATHE stands for "Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together for a Healthy Environment."  If you have ever worked in any capacity (owner, waiter/waitress, busboy, bartender, musician, etc.), past or present, in a restaurant, bar, or nightclub in the state of New York and would like to join BREATHE NY, please send us your name, email, and job title (when you worked in a restaurant, bar, or nightclub).

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Waitress with lung cancer seeks to protect others

by Elaine O'Connor / The Ottawa Citizen
Excerpted from: Ottawa (Ont) Citizen (2002-08-22) via tobacco.org

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/news/story.asp?id={B0C1D1AE-3E43-480E-84C4-AE1E7DEC1939}

Ottawa waitress Heather Cross has lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke inhaled as a long-time waitress. 

 
For 40 years, Ottawa waitress Heather Cross served her customers the daily special with a smile and a laugh. In return, her customers gave her generous tips, good conversation -- and lung cancer.

Ms. Cross, a life-long non-smoker, worked 12-hour days over four decades in hazy smoke-filled restaurants in Ottawa and Toronto, long before those cities' enacted smokefree workplace laws.

The 57-year-old has run plates back and forth in Moe's World Famous Newport Restaurant on Richmond Road for almost 15 years without a second thought. Until, on Aug. 1, she was diagnosed with advanced, inoperable lung cancer.

A checkup in March led to the discovery that a large, deadly tumour had lodged in her left lung. Shortly afterwards, Ms. Cross launched a case to get workers compensation for what her doctors say is clearly a work-related injury.  She hopes her claim, now with the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, will lead to a provincial re-evaluation of workplace safety regulations to grant others in the restaurant industry greater protection.

"I just want people to become a little more aware of what secondhand smoke can do," said the career waitress, who served her first table at Fran's Restaurant in Toronto when she was 17 years old.  Her lawyer, Phillip Hunt, acknowledged the case might be an uphill battle, but feels the issues are clear-cut.
"She never smoked a cigarette in her life," said Mr. Hunt. "That makes her a model example of exposure to secondhand smoke in a very smoky industry. When it comes to smoke of any consequence, the work environment was the source."

Ms. Cross just started her first chemotherapy at the Ottawa General Hospital last week. It left her dehydrated from vomiting for more than 24 hours. Still, she isn't resentful.  "I've come to terms with it," said the soft-spoken woman, touching a scar on her neck left by recent exploratory surgery. "I've done nothing to hurt anyone in my life, so I'm not worried about afterwards."

Ms. Cross has been told she has 10 months to a year to live. In her will, she has authorized her lawyer to continue the case if she dies before it's completed.

"You would think that someone at that point would go and spend their last few months in the happiest way," said Cynthia Callard, executive director of Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada. "But she's really interested in having people understand how wrong what's happened to her is."  The organization plans to support her by fundraising to cover lawyer's fees.

The group hopes the Ministry of Labour will re-interpret labour codes to cover workers who are exposed to second-hand smoke. Currently, the province's Smoking in the Workplace Act protects workers by limiting smoking areas to less than 25 per cent of total floor space. The anti-smoking group argues the law offers little protection as smoke can infiltrate the entire area.

Although the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act regulates workers' levels of chemical exposure, banning exposure to 26 "toxic agents" -- 17 of which are found in cigarette smoke -- the law does not apply to smoking.  To date, no-smoking laws have been administered municipally, and then only recently, and not without a fight. Ottawa's no-smoking bylaw came too late for Ms. Cross.

"When we brought in the bylaw, we were always very clear that the issue was public safety, but also workers' safety," said Dr. Geoff Dunkley, the city's assistant medical officer of health. "Her case is certainly an argument for the bylaw."

Ms. Cross's daughter, siblings and co-workers are struggling to deal with their emotions. "I was devastated when she told me. She's a great lady and we love her like a sister," said Newport owner Moe Atallah.

"She worked so hard for all those years for her retirement and now this. I hope to God she'll be okay."