Dancer sues Strip Club.

Club may well be in trouble if they specifically required her to order alcoholic drinks. I suspect she had the option of non alcoholic drinks and would think that may improve their chances. I would also expect an abrupt change in the club's policy to require dancer's to order non alcoholic drinks.

Maybe she had to down a bunch of coctails just to work up the will to rub herself all over a geriatric pervert in shorts.

I'm surprised that hasn't happened sooner. I know that at one of the clubs I used to visit semi-regularly before it closed, dancers had to get customers to buy them a certain amount of drinks, which were always some sort of alcoholic mixture. Of course, that's why I only went there semiregularly, but some dancers just can't handle their liquor.

We have a high drink hustle in our club, and we get a dollar a drink after we sell at least 10... I work almost everyshift without ordering alcohol. Sometimes a customer won't buy me a drink if is nonalcoholic..I am good with that I like being able to keep my license, Im not loosing it to a DUI. She is responsible for her own actions..I don't even see how she thinks anyone else is to blame...

Evilcyn, I agree with every word you said. But I bet she wins a sizable settlement. Can you imagine the club's owner trying to convince a jury that yes she was required to get customers to buy her drinks but no they aren't responsible? He'd be laughed out of court. Which is why it'll never get there, they'll settle.

I also agree with DancyDan, this is a common practice throughout the industry. But maybe it won't be for long.

I know for a fact that more than a few clubs don't even serve the dancers alcoholic drinks, rather just the drink without the alcohol. Of course the customer still pays a premium price for the mixers. Is this wide spread, I don't know, but I know it is done.

evilcyn,

We have become a society of "blame someone else". Older folks seem more likely to take responsibility for their actions then do the younger generations. And there are those that want someone else to do everything for them. Societies losers, IMHO.

If the dancer has a good lawyer, he'll choose a judge only (no jury) trial. Having a jury is a roll of the dice (especially in Alabama). A sympathetic jury will of course side with her, but a jury made of churchgoers will go against her. In the bible belt, this stripper has an uphill battle.

I don't think her suit has much merit as it stands. The club did not force her to drink, but rather encouraged her to have the customer buy her drinks (she always can have the bartender make them non alcoholic). However the fact that the club might have let her leave in a drunken state and if the club keeps good records about what she consumed, then she has a better chance. My experience with suits like this is that the good record keeping is the first problem. If the club keeps track of all her drinks bought by customers and records them as alcoholic drink purchases then that will be used against the club.

Anybody that does not understand the southern legal system, has not seen the movie "My cousin Vinny". There was another story in the news a couple of days ago about a barber in LA that got ticketed for opening his barber shop on a Sunday and Monday.

There is nothing unusual about this lawsuit. These kinds of actions have existed in the legal system for years. They are called dramshop cases. It really is irrelevant that she is a dancer. At most, that's icing on the cake. The theory of the dramshop case is that a tavern owner is legally responsible for insuring that he does not get someone so drunk that the drinker is a danger to himself or others. So if I walk into a bar and start drinking, the bar is legally obligated to stop serving me drinks if I appear to be getting drunk. If they fail in that obligation, and let me get hammered, and I go out and get in a car accident, they can be held liable for the accident. I assure you this is nothing new. Cases like this happen all the time. There was a case in NJ recently where a family sued a sports arena, because they got a football fan so trashed that he went out and caused a major accident, severely injuring a child. Like the stripper above, the family showed evidence that the sport arena's policy was to push drinks as hard and as fast as possible, regardless of whether the patrons were getting trashed.

As for whether Alabama is or is not a good jurisdiction, the dancer did not have any choice about that, given that everything took place in Alabama. However, Alabama juries are notoriously pro-plaintiff. In one rather famous case, a person was awarded millions of dollars in punitive damages against a BMW dealership, because the paint job on his car was defective.

As for what courts are like, with all due respect to shadowcat, "my cousin vinny" is a funny movie but it does not have anything to do with real life. Does anyone think the B movie "Zombia Strippers" reveals an accurate picture of strip clubs? Hmmm, on second thought, maybe it does . .. .

njscfan,

I never knew those cases were called dramshop cases. Strange name. I would think many bars would go out of business if they stopped serving customers if they seem to be impaired. Tough call, but one of those things were people make others responsible for their actions.

I see a double standard emerging in this respect. Those that wish to circumvent the second amendment have taken to suing gun dealers and manufacturers for crimes committed by criminals. Yet, courts seem to tend to throw out these cases, or rule in favor of those criminals being responsible, not the gun dealers and manufactures.

Well, I hesitate to open a political discussion about something as volatile as gun control. But I suppose the analogy you are making would be closer if, for example, a gun DEALER (not just a manufacturer) knowingly sold a gun (with bullets) to someone who was clearly stating he was going to take the gun, go outside, and start shooting people. Regardless of whether the suits you reference against gun manufacturers are a good idea or not, I do not think they make a perfect analogy to the dramshop cases. In any event, the dramshop cases have been around a long, long time, and they are available in roughly 40 out of 50 states.

We've now gone pretty far afield from strip clubs. Although I probably would not give a stripper or a patron a loaded gun -- and certainly not if they were drunk.

njscfan,

I knew it wasn't a perfect analogy, but rather just an analogy. I don't think any bartender has ever been told, "Get me real drunk so I can go out and drive my car and kill someone.", either. Longevity doesn't make right, as far as dramshop cases go.

Having been shot and owned and/or carried guns for many years, I was stone cold sober when I got shot! And you know what, it was MY fault and ONLY my fault!

You are very correct, however, this is way off topic. But you are incorrect about not political discussion about something as volatile as gun control. That is a problem in this country, no one wants to rock the boat. Sort of like Social Security being off limits! Nothing should be off limits and we used to be able to voice our political opinions until some brainiacs came up with maccain-finegold and the SC (Supreme Court, not strip club) actually found parts of it Constitutional!

I am not trying to limit your free speech. However, I suspect you and I disagree on just about every issue under the sun except that we are both sexually attracted to women. I come to this site -- presumably like most people -- because I am interested in strip clubs and related issues. I would not want to constantly impose on other site members by beating them over the head with my political opinions (some or many of which they might find objectionable). I would not think it would be fair, because they are here to talk about strippers, etc., not guns, abortion or the war in Iraq -- all important subjects, but I don't think this is the place. The OP was ostensibly about strippers, sort of, and then like a lot of posts it veered off into other parts and finally we are talking about gun control(!). Sometimes it is hard to draw a line, and reasonable minds can differ about what is and what is not off topic. But I think our little chat about guns falls clearly into the latter category. And we have polar opposite opinions on the topic. What is the point of fighting about it on this site? I'd rather stick to girls.

The dramshop approach probably applies here, but the ownership is also liable if they require something be done at work and then do not account for any side affects it may have. If they did indeed require her to sell X number of drinks, then they could be liable for the DUI.

njscfan,

Let us agree to dis-agree.

Strippers and guns, what could be more pleasant conversation. ;) Actually, I think that would be make a nice theme for a stripclub and the old quick draw could be returned to its place of prominence.

Joking aside that was interesting about the dram cases. Don't like it, but I'm sure many people if not most people agree with the courts' position that that bar or gun dealer be held liable under certain conditions. As far as gun dealers currently receiving some protection from the courts, well the tobacco companies had a court-teflon coating for decades. People's opinion change.

I'd always thought sexual harassment lawsuits would be an excellent way for churches and other anti-stripclub agents to go about putting small strip clubs out of business. Even if the club was ultimately to win on the merits, the legal fees could drain the club dry.

Wonder if she'll prevail. It's not an uncommon accusation, often leveled against a bar or bartender by the bereaved parents of a dead drunk-driving teen.

I'm also looking with less than positive apprehension forward to the day when a bunch of strippers decide to sue their employer for back benefits such as Worker's Compensation contributions, unemployment contributions, or even demanding they do with-holding for IRS purposes.

These kinds of suits, in the current environment, can indeed make a serious dent in the legal context within which strip clubs now'days still operate.