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Thread: Federal Lawsuit by Dancers in Queens, NY

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    Veteran Member bibacle's Avatar
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    Default Federal Lawsuit by Dancers in Queens, NY

    From today's NY Times: Not a "strip" club in the traditional sense, but some familiar complaints. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/ny...l?ref=nyregion

    Several former Flamingo dancers plan to file a federal lawsuit against the club on Thursday, asserting that it repeatedly violated federal and state wage laws and cheated its dancers of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    In interviews in Spanish, several former dancers said the owners often made them pay a $60 or $70 fine when they missed a day of work. Several complained of having to pay an $11 fee each day just to enter the club and an additional $10 if they arrived a half-hour late.

    They said that sometimes, after dancing from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m., they had to attend meetings that lasted until 6 a.m. in which the owners held forth, calling some dancers “puta” (whore) as well as ugly and fat. The dancers’ most serious complaint was that the club never paid them a cent for their 45-hour workweeks.

    The lawsuit raises an intriguing question of law: whether the for-hire dancers were employees, who should have been paid wages for every hour they worked, or independent contractors who, as the Flamingo’s owners assert, were merely renting space on the dance floor.

    The owners say they had no obligation to pay wages, asserting that the dancers were entrepreneurs who made a living by keeping the $2 they earned for each dance...

    ...If the dancers win their lawsuit, it could have ripple effects at the city’s many for-hire dance clubs, latter-day versions of Depression-era joints where men paid 10 cents for a dance.

    “We are alleging that the dancers were never paid minimum wage, never paid overtime, and there were illegal deductions and kickbacks in the form of entry fees, late fees and sick fees,” said Elizabeth Wagoner, another lawyer for Make the Road.
    The lawsuit is alleging wage violations on behalf of more than 2,000 dancers, waiters and bartenders who the lawyers say worked at Flamingo over the past three years.
    "Those who dance, are considered crazy by those who can't hear the music."--George Carlin

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    Default Re: Federal Lawsuit by Dancers in Queens, NY

    Is this a taxi dance place? They made $2 a dance? JFC!

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    Default Re: Federal Lawsuit by Dancers in Queens, NY

    ^^^ yes, but it could conceivably set a New York legal precedent that would affect strip clubs as well.

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    Default Re: Federal Lawsuit by Dancers in Queens, NY

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    ^^^ yes, but it could conceivably set a New York legal precedent that would affect strip clubs as well.
    This is true.

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    Default Re: Federal Lawsuit by Dancers in Queens, NY

    The more things change, the more they stay the same. This will change nothing. There have been lawsuits after lawsuits over this issue. No matter what the "law" says about dancer employees, the clubs will hire lawyers to write up contracts that circumvent the law. California is a perfect example of this.

    The only way there will be any meaningful change in the adult industry is if workers in that industry are considered a part of society at large. Right now strippers, porn actors, cam girls, phone sex workers and prostitutes are considered sub-human by much of society and that they get what they deserve from the crooked companies that they work for.


    Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!


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