NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Dancers at a New York City strip club won a $5 million class-action lawsuit, claiming they were classified as independent contractors, not employees.
Former dancers filed a $5 million suit against Rick's Cabaret and its parent company, RCI Entertainment New York, alleging the club violated federal and state labor laws by failing to pay them a salary, instead expecting them to rely on customers' tips and "performance fees" for private lap dances, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote in his decision that tips, including the lap dance fees, "cannot be used to satisfy Rick's NY's statutory wage obligations," noting management treated the dancers as employees and "regulated almost every aspect of the dancers' behavior within the club."
Engelmayer also ordered both sides to meet about a potential settlement.
