Bally’s Shareholder Proxy Votes Easily Surpass Threshold to Resubmit Smokefree Proposal Next Year
ANRF: Indoor Smoking in Casinos is an Issue Casino Company Leadership Can’t Ignore
Berkeley, CA — In the second of three shareholder votes by major casino companies, more than three million shareholder proxy votes were cast in favor of a proposal for Bally’s Corporation to study the economic impact of maintaining indoor smoking at its casinos. According to Bally’s Corporation’s SEC filing, 3,145,853 shareholder proxy votes, or 11.6%, voted in favor of the proposal, while 23,983,362 voted against it.
Shareholders easily surpassed the 5% threshold required for a proposal in its first year to be brought back for a vote at next year’s annual shareholder meeting. In order to resubmit a proposal, it must receive 5% support the first year, 15% the second year, and 25% the third year.
“This vote by Bally’s shareholders sends a strong message to the board of directors and the gaming industry that there is significant investor support for studying the business benefits of implementing a smokefree indoor air policy,” said Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF). “Never before has the topic of smokefree policies been brought to the forefront of three major casino boardrooms. While the proposal may not have garnered majority support, the fact that it was even brought to the table and surpassed the first-year threshold, is a significant victory – smokefree indoor air in casinos is a win for workers, customers, communities, and investors. Casino company executives can no longer ignore this critical health issue for their employees and about 90% of their guests who don’t smoke. We look forward to continuing conversations with investors and management on this important issue.”
Investors weighed in on a shareholder proposal from the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF) and Trinity Health, a Livonia, Michigan-based health care system. The proposal sought to study the potential cost savings through the implementation of a smokefree policy across Bally’s properties. Bally’s had urged shareholders to reject the proposal.
In a resolution submitted in November 2023 to Bally’s Corporation (and in similar resolutions submitted around the same timeframe in late 2023 to all three corporations, Boyd, Caesars and Bally’s), lead filer Trinity Health and co-filer ANRF wrote: “There are potential business risks to allowing indoor smoking in Bally’s Corporation properties, from higher employee health insurance premiums (when compared with casinos that don’t permit indoor smoking), greater maintenance costs, and deterring a significant number of potential visitors who won’t visit a casino due exposure to tobacco smoke (88.5% of the American public does not smoke).”
“Shareholders have no guidance as to the costs our Company is bearing for continuing to allow indoor smoking, nor has the Company disclosed the social and environmental costs and risks imposed on its stakeholders,” wrote the filers, who are members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
ABOUT ANRF
Sister organization to Americans for Nonsmoker’s Rights, ANR Foundation (ANRF) is a 501c3 non-profit educational and advocacy group that has been working for over 40 years to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANRF has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANRF aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://no-smoke.org/. ANRF projects include https://smokefreecasinos.org/ and https://smokefreemusiccities.org/.
