Scum bag attorney files class action suit for "exotic" dancers in Ohio.

I wouldn't be surprised if every strip-club that has been around for a while will eventually get hit w/ a lawsuit - seems the lawyers have found a surefire loophole per se.

These lawsuits seem to be coming from retired dancers looking to manipulate some coin out of the clubs that one exploited them. We—in every state I travel to—have to sign paperwork now that asks if we want to be employees or independent contractors and no dancer in their right mind would want to be an employee—contracts say we make an hourly wage, have to do tasks like clean the bathrooms, and submit our tips to the house. These efforts are made by people who no longer work in clubs and are looking for a crumb, no active dancer would choose to be an employee in the strip club.

I don't think dancers will like being "employees" when the club collects all monies and reports real income to government agencies. Those earned income credits that dancers load up on will be "bye, bye, bye" !!!!

Scum bag attorney? Is there another kind?

The dancers, however, keep winning these lawsuits because the clubs are clearly violating the law. The clubs want to treat dancers as employees but not pay unemployment and social security taxes as required by law. Strip club owners do not get to make their own laws just because they profit from it.

Story even made the local news cast in Cleveland yesterday evening..

Over the past 35 years of practicing law I have discovered a truism: m those who profess animosity and hatred towards lawyers are invariably the most despicable, least honest, rotten foul clients we ever have. Why shouldn't fair wage laws apply to the dancers? Why should the owners make all the money? This case is based on a Massachusetts case which resulted in a minimum wage law application for dancers. The change in clubs and cost? Zero, so stop worrying you frauds.

I agreed with Jack, if the clubs don’t care to observe the laws, they’ll keep getting slammed. There’s no reason for them to cheat their employees other than earning unjustified profits. Greedy bastards getting what’s coming to them.

My comment, of course, does not apply to any lawyers who post here on TUSCL.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that the distinction between contractors and employees is clear. I can hire someone to take care of my lawn and garden. If I tell him what I want done but do not tell him when he can come and go and what he can wear and when he can take breaks and generally do not supervise his work, he is a contractor. But if I tell him to wear a certain uniform and require him to arrive at 9AM and leave and 3PM and supervise the way he does his work, he is an employee. I cannot just decide to classify him as a contractor. I have to obey the law.

I agree that the independent contractor model is better for both us customers and the dancers. What the strip club owners need to do is respect the dancers' status as independent contractors.

"Scum bag attorney? Is there another kind?"

Well, no, but there are degrees of their sleaziness, sorta like Dante's circles of hell.

The lowest circle, as we all know, is made up of divorce lawyers.

I haven't given this any thought so maybe someone can clue me in. How does the employee vs. Independent contractor classification impact PLs?

You know that the 99% of dishonest lawyers give the 1% of honest lawyers a bad name. What did you call a plane full of lawyers that crashes into the ocean: a good start! Why do medical research labs sometimes use lawyers instead of rats to do tests: Because there are things a rat will just not do! Why did the lawyer survive in sharks infested waters after a shipwreck when everyone else got eaten: Professional courtesy!

flagooner - as an employee it can impact a PL because the employer can tell the employee when she can suck a dick and how much she can charge. As an independent contractor she can decide when and how much to charge.

For those of you who think that treating dancers as statutory employees is a wonderful idea, I wonder how much you've really thought it through. Statutory employees are afforded a number of federal and state workplaces protections. Lawsuits relating to employee status are just part of the first wave. Once more clubs are treating dancers as statutory employees, sexual harassment suits (including hostile work environment claims), age discrimination claims, worker safety consideration and a whole host of other fun killing nonsense will, sooner or later, come into play.

Imagine clubs that have to put barriers between dancers and customers in order to keep them safe from unwanted contact (ala Lusty Lady, which is now closed), aging fat dancers that can't be fired, limitations on stage shows because of insurance issues and employee safety, disallowed contact in the LD/VIP area, etc.,etc. Sure, let's have more of that.

MA is the only state, to my knowledge, in which the statutory model has been widely adopted. Most of the clubs in MA suck ass anyway and there less than 40 of them, so it is a small sample size to work with, but I'm guessing that employee related lawsuits are only a matter of time. In most other places where clubs were sued, the clubs settled out of court and then made contractual and procedural changes to try to avoid adopting the employer model and I pray for their continued success. Oh, and MA is officially a no contact state already, which I think made the model a bit easier to adopt, but that rule is often ignored by the dancers - at least for now.

I hope that the Ohio clubs find a way to deal with this that is similar to what clubs in NYC and LV, among other places, have done.

This has been going on for years. I remember strippers going on strike in Phoenix in the early 80s

They are going to kill the goose. With set wages comes set rules.

Everyone hates lawyers... unless it's your lawyer. That guy is awesome.

I think jackslash summed it up well - strip-clubs have been wanting to have their cake and eat it too by wanting/benefiting from the contract status of dancers and at the same time wanting to boss the dancers around like employees - treating them like employees when they were ICs is what got them in trouble.

I think everyone (dancers, PLs, clubs) agree that the IC model is best for everyone, clubs are just gonna have to adjust to not expecting they can treat dancers as employees.

These suits are mostly brought by former strippers that are now flipping burgers and looking for some extra cash. They could care less what happens to the current strippers. And the attorneys are like ambulance chasers, just looking for their 35% or more cut.

I agree that the some club owners have brought this on by the way they treat the dancers but I doubt that many current or future strippers would want to be treated as employees. They know the downside to that.

They should have an annual SCOM (Strip Club Owners Meeting), kinda like pro sports leagues have for their owners

They can discuss items like this that threaten the industry and share best practices for how to protect themselves and adapt if necessary.

It can rotate through different cities: Miami, Tampa, Detroit, Las Vegas, ...

flagooner - They already have one.

acenational.org

I have friends who are lawyers and I wouldnt call them scumbags but its fun to joke just because they often take such an objective and dispassionate view of difficult and emotional dilemmas. They also profit on conflict but its to resolve them in some way.

A very very high paid lawyer once told me my favorite lawyer joke...

"Whats the difference between a sperm and a lawyer?

A sperm at least stands a one in a billion chance of becoming human" :P

Oh...also wouldnt that be interesting the dancers squirt soap in your hands under this new employee model. Sounds like liberation to me, finally the roles are reversed where they squirt something into the patrons hands. Equal opportunity!

Rick I assume you've strip clubbed in Massachusetts and have realized that while the law states it is an official zero contact state, that localities are charged with enforcing the law and few don't at all. Mario's and Centerfolds are closer to full bj than air dance clubs.

These types of lawsuits are very standard. Some of the first were in San Francisco. It just gets to what has to be shown to legitimate contractor status instead of employee status.

And yes of course it is always the former dancers.

Not really that big of a deal. Contractor status will not go away. Clubs just need to be more careful about how they use it.

We should have some attorney's here specializing in strip club issues.

SJG

@SJG - Right. If only we had a member who was a competent attorney..,

^ "flagooner - They already have one.

acenational.org"

Oops. I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't just used an an excuse to bring their favorites along for a weekend of debauchery.

^ How did that get cut off?

I wouldn't be surprised if they just use it as an excuse to bring some strippers along for a weekend of debauchery.

Then again, that doesn't sound bad.

I love my lawyer.

Interesting to imagine how many dancers would immediately be fired if clubs were forced to pay them. It's one thing to let low talent in when they pay house fees another if the clubs had to pay them.

But the "retired" dancers that are part of the suit don't care about that.

We love you, JS69.

At the Sunnyvale Brass Rail it has usually been that the dancers get paid. Some small exceptions to that now.

But usually the mileage is lower when dancers get paid. Management has to crack the whip.

But the club stays out of trouble, as girls are not going over the limits. Brass Rail has very little LE trouble.

Once girls are paying access fees and taking money off of customers by their own whiles, what they do starts to increase, and its the wildest most aggressive girls who rule.

Also, that way management can just keep adding more and more girls to the roster. Those who jump in know there will be competition, but they are ready for it.

It can be fun! Our underground places have been like this, for as long as they lasted.

We have attorneys here. Presumably they are competent at what they do. But strip clubs present a whole host of legal issues. And the law is not what it says in the law books, its what courts have already decided. So strip club owners need this specialized type of lawyering. Would be good of we also had access to that in our discussions.

SJG

Led Zeppelin, 1969 Danish TV youtube.com

I've asked this before, but never gotten any takers. Anyone put their P4P women on the payroll, paying them with untaxed funds? Classify them as consultants, pay them by check, deduct from business revenue?

SJG

I would, SJG, but I can't stand the thought of being harassed by the true scumbags, the IRS. :)

Well, if its legit, and if you do it right, and if there aren't outside share holders who could complain; there should be some smart people here who can figure out how to put a mistress on the payroll.

SJG

@SGG that is truly idiotic especially now with the rise of the #Meetoo movement, you might as well hang a sign that says >I’m a tax cheater<

^^^^ 25 not so. The girl would already be my regular bed mate and model for lingerie photo sessions, before any talk of payment on the books ever even began. I especially am looking to use this in Mexico, where I will need interpreters and guides. But it won't be limited to there. An expanding organization needs to being in local people.

Just got to use one's head about this.

Need to make sure it won't cause a tax problem for either party.

:) :) :)

SJG