An Israeli couple asked the Petah Tikva District Court last week to identify a lawsuit against Mandy's restaurant as a NIS 20 million ($5 million) class action.
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In the statement of claim filed by the plaintiffs, they allege that during a visit to the restaurant to celebrate their one-year anniversary, they found the place to be filled with cigarette smoke to the point that they found it hard to breathe.
They claimed that the entire place was full of people holding cigarettes in their hands and smoking, although signs barring smoking were placed in several spots in the venue. Additionally, they said that there was no attempt to enforce the smoking ban on customers.
"The plaintiffs chose not to inhale the poisonous cigarette smoke. There is no reason why they, and many others like them, should be forced to breathe the toxic cigarette smoke when they choose not to," the claim said.
The cause of action, according to the lawsuit, is "blatant and ongoing" violations of the law prohibiting smoking in public places.
The class action seeks to include all the visitors to the place since the law became effective in November 2007, and until the couple's visit to the place in February 2009.
It is estimated that some 500 people visit the restaurant each day. The action seeks a NIS 1000 ($250) compensation for each customer, which adds up to a total of NIS 20 million.
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