May 3, 2016 · Team HG
The court case regarding the smoking area of nightclub Fox in Stadskanaal will take place this coming Wednesday, May 4. Owner Jeroen van Broekhoeven refuses to pay a fine of €600 because one of his bouncers collected glasses from the smoking area.
With the aim of making everyone feel welcome, Van Broekhoeven is setting up a smoking area as a direct response to the smoking ban. This way, every smoker can also enjoy a beer while having a cigarette. But equally important, the glasses will occasionally be left on the table.
On November 2, 2014, a bouncer at the nightclub who was working at the time decided to spare the smoking area from these glasses. If it isn't to restock the bar, it is to prevent accidents and hazards involving shards. “I have been working this way since the smoking area opened. If it is full of empty glasses, you have to remove them,” the owner stated via the Algemeen Dagblad. He receives no protest from his bouncers. “70% of my bouncers smoke. They are fine with taking the glasses with them every now and then.” For the owner, it is gradually becoming a matter of principle, in which he no longer knows how else to keep his establishment tidy, safe, and trouble-free.
The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) thinks otherwise. On the infamous date in 2014, an inspector from the agency saw a doorman at work in the smoking area. The owner was immediately fined €600 for this, because according to the law, no work may be carried out in the smoking area. Entrepreneur Van Broekhoven considers this completely unjustified; he will appear in court this coming Wednesday. He hopes to be vindicated and that the judge will overturn the imposed fine.
