ATLANTA, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Dancers at the Diamond Club in Atlanta have joined a growing list of strippers suing club owners over fees, lost wages and mistreatment, court papers indicate.
The suit filed by four dancers -- one of at least three similar suits filed in recent months -- claims the dancers are owed unpaid wages and were forced to pay kickbacks so they could work. The suit -- which names Chief Executive Officer C.B. Jones and Chief Financial Officer Karen Kirk as defendants -- says the club treats them as employees, but defines them as private contractors.
The club fines dancers who are late to work, and controls their schedules and costumes, the lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status to cover 250 other dancers who have worked at the club, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Saturday.
In a case settled in January, a federal judge ruled exotic dancers at a club named Pin Ups were employees because the club could not survive without them.
The Diamond Club lawsuit says dancers pay a portion of their wages to the club, a disc jockey and a manager, and give up a portion of their VIP sales and a percentage of credit card payments. They are fined for showing up late or leaving early, the lawsuit says.
