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Amazon Cuts Off North Carolina Affiliates
Amazon.com has reportedly cut off all affiliates in North Carolina as a preemptive response to the sales tax change being pushed through the state legislature. The Seattle-based online retailer warned affiliates last week that such a move might be necessary, but the early shutoff seems to be a move in hopes of swaying opinion on the proposed legislation. "Local affiliates say they were 'blind-sided' by the company's action. 'I got this e-mail at 4:30 this morning,' said James Barrett, a technology consultant from Winston-Salem. 'It wasn't saying your account will be shut down. It said it is shut down. That just blew me up right there.' Barrett said that he is frustrated at lawmakers for considering the tax, but equally aggravated with Amazon. 'They're trying to tick off all their associates and get them to call down to Raleigh,' Barrett said. 'I think that is pretty tacky. That's not the way to use people who are referring business to your business.'"
amazon has feet? are they for sale?
Would you want to liable for a regular patron that contracted lung cancer after breathing smoke in your establishment?
I would certainly hope that it isn't possible to incur liability for exposure to conditions the customer is fully aware of before walking in the door. Subjecting customers to unexpected or hidden risk would be one thing, but when someone goes into a place of business knowing in advance that they'll be exposed to second-hand smoke the responsibility for any potential consequences is theirs alone. A warning sign for new customers might be in order--though it would be difficult to argue that any significant damage could be incurred in the time it takes to observe the conditions and leave.
You'd already have some liability if your smoking customer spilled a drink and the same non-smoking patron slipped on it.
Citation, please? Any reasonable theory of liability depends on the liable individual contributing in some way to the damage, by action or negligence. Neither is the case here, unless you're leaving something important out of your description.
"The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
Sheesh, how long are people in your restaurant? You're not going to catch cancer from an hour long dinner at a smoke-filled establishment. You'd have to be in there a very significant amount of time to damage your lungs. Besides, if you were a restaurant owner, you can say up front, "This is a smoking establishment." As long as you aren't taking customers in at gunpoint and forcing them to stay in the smoke, it's not your problem.
A better example than a patron would be an employee - the vast majority of bars i've frequented left their employees in situations where the had no choice but to breathe in second hand smoke. I know the free-market extremists will disagree, but i think your employer should be responsible for a safe working environment.
I certainly know of someone who got a nasty laceration in his foot from broken glass from a customer spill. The bar settled and covered his medical costs.