
Originally Posted by
Melonie
I actually have a degree in Respiratory Therapy ... which like Nursing requires a 'professional license'. I was indeed fined and officially reprimanded by my state's professional licensing authority for 'unprofessional conduct'. While this doesn't prevent me from working as an RT again, it DOES make the fact that I was involved in the 'adult entertainment industry' immediately apparent to any would-be employer who checks on the status of my professional license. In practical terms, this basically means that I could still work treating patients in prison hospitals, at inner city clinics etc. which have poor working conditions thus a huge shortage of RT's ( in fact I wound up catching TB from a patient who was a prisoner - which 'sidelined' me from working as an RT for several months thus prompting me to become a full time adult entertainer ! ) ... and near zero chance of working for a private hospital, a home care company, a 'religious' hospital etc. where the better pay rate and better working conditions provide the prospective employers with a surplus of RT job applicants.
Especially in today's age of 1099 reports to the IRS and to state tax agencies by adult webcam hosts and strip clubs, state professional licensing agencies are now very likely to be 'automatically' informed that a licensee with social security number X is working / has worked in the 'adult entertainment' industry. And given the terrible budget deficits in most states, the professional licensing agencies are virtually guaranteed to try and relieve that deficit slightly by imposing hefty fines on professional license holders whose 1099's show they have engaged in 'unprofessional conduct' - with the by-product being a 'black mark' on their professional license that can and will affect future employment opportunities for the rest of their lives. In some ways, i.e. potential negative effects on future 'straight job' employers, this is directly equivalent in result to an exotic dancer being ( bogusly ) busted and receiving a 'black mark' on her criminal record.
Viewed objectively, if you are considering investing years worth of effort and tens ( or hundreds ) of thousands of dollars in tuition money to become a licensed health care professional ( or any other type of licensed professional for that matter i.e. attorney, engineer, accountant, teacher etc. ), you may indeed want to weigh the short term financial benefits of webcam / strip club earnings against the potential long term negative effects of creating a 'paper trail' of adult industry work = 'unprofessional conduct'. As others have already pointed out, the comparatively high earnings potential available from 'adult industry' work is, at least in part, a result of the a 'real world' trade-off that will negatively affect future employment opportunities / earnings potential in other industries.
Ironically, the new IRS requirements for 1099 reporting by webcam hosts ( even foreign ones ) and strip clubs ... which now provides an automatic means for state professional licensing authorities to be informed of 'adult industry work' by license holders ... stems directly from the new US National Health Care law !!!
Where licensed professionals are concerned, having an official reprimand for 'unprofessional conduct' clipped to the 'first page' of their professional license file provides a legally valid reason for an employer to 'fire' that licensed professional as long as the employer's published employment policy includes a 'business ethics' aka 'morals' clause ( which virtually all straight job employers now include ). And where pre-employment screenings and background checks are concerned, no reason needs to be provided by the prospective employer for turning down any given job applicant outside of 'protected classes' i.e. race, creed, sex etc.
Also, legally speaking, 'adult industry' work is treated very differently from straight jobs. Were it actually treated equally under the law, some very unpopular side effects would take place ... for example unemployed Nevada women being denied unemployment benefits because they refused to accept an available job at the Bunny Ranch, or unemployed New York women being denied unemployment benefits because they refused to accept an available job as a peep show nude model !!! This legal issue was actually litigated under international law, as the result of 100% legal brothel owners in Germany having to pay into the unemployment system, wanting the gov't unemployment office to refer 'qualified' unemployed women to them, and wanting the payment of unemployment benefits denied to those 'qualified' unemployed women if they were offered employment as 100% legal prostitutes but refused.
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