Recently, a class action lawsuit filed in 2009 against the Midtown strip club Rick\u2019s Cabaret has resulted in the return of over $10 million dollars in back wages to the club\u2019s current and former dancers and entertainers. Rick\u2019s Cabaret instituted a policy by which it refused to pay its dancers and entertainers any wages whatsoever, and even charged its dancers $60 per shift. Rick\u2019s Cabaret also collected 2 of every 20 \u201cDance Dollars\u201d that dancers received through credit card payments from customers, in addition to a $4 fee. In this recent decision, the Plaintiff class successfully challenged Rick\u2019s Cabaret\u2019s wage policy and \u201cDance Dollar\u201d policy as unlawful. The court found Rick\u2019s Cabaret\u2019s argument that performance fees for personal dances should offset a lack of wages to be unpersuasive. On this issue, the court specifically noted that these \u201cperformance fees\u201d were in fact cash paid from customers directly to the dancers, and that the strip club already collected a separate service fee for the rooms rented for personal dances. The court held that dancers, as employees, were entitled to the full minimum wage for their hours worked. Further, the Judge held that the strip club\u2019s policies of keeping 2 of every 20 \u201cDance Dollars\u201d and charging customers a 4$ fee were misleading, since customers likely expected that the dancers were getting the full amount that they paid them. The remaining claim pertaining to how Rick\u2019s Cabaret charged dancers $60 per shift is still being litigated.<\/p>\n
At this moment, Rick\u2019s Cabaret owes the Plaintiff class $10.8 million for the minimum wage violations and misappropriation of tips claim alone. However, with the claim pertaining to how Rick\u2019s Cabaret charged dancers $60 per shift still on trial and liquidated damages and attorneys\u2019 fees not yet determined, that amount could increase to well over $20 million in the near future.<\/p>\n
The NYC Employment Lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer have represented exotic dancers who have worked at Private Eyes and New York Dolls. We are currently investigating similar claims against Flashdancers. Please contact us at (212) 300-0375 to schedule a free consultation to further discuss your rights. For more information, please visit our website, www.fslawfirm.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, a class action lawsuit filed in 2009 against the Midtown strip club Rick\u2019s Cabaret has resulted in the return of over $10 million dollars in back wages to the club\u2019s current and former dancers and entertainers. Rick\u2019s Cabaret instituted a policy by which it refused to pay its dancers and entertainers any wages whatsoever, and even charged its dancers $60 per shift. Rick\u2019s Cabaret also collected 2 of every 20 \u201cDance Dollars\u201d that dancers received through credit card payments …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,1,22,25,24,41,27,33,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-class-action","category-employment-law","category-flsa-2","category-gratuities","category-minimum-wage-2","category-new-york-city","category-ny-labor-law","category-service-charge","category-tips"],"yoast_head":"\n