INNER GROVE HEIGHTS, MN — Exotic dancers are used to stripping off their clothes, but the ladies who perform at the King of Diamonds Gentlemen’s Club near Minneapolis, MN are sick of being stripped of something else: their right to be employees. Although the King of Diamonds’ website promises “to offer acres of FREE Parking” for customers, it hasn’t chosen to offer its dancers the security of wage-and-hour laws that the woman insist apply to them.
According to the National Law Journal, attorney E. Michelle Drake contends that dancers at the King of Diamonds are no different from pizza delivery drivers or waitresses and deserve the same wage-and-hour protections and benefits that are extended to employees but withheld from independent contractors.
Among the dancers’ complaints is the fact that the club demands $20 – $100 per night for the honor of using the dance floor and pole. The club, like many throughout the country, contends that the charge is appropriate, much like that charged for the use of a chair and sink by a stylist at a beauty salon.
Drake contends that the analogy falls apart immediately because stylists are considered employees who receive an hourly wage, whereas dancers are considered independent contractors who work exclusively for tips.
“This is a very cut and dry lawsuit,” Drake insists. “The job that my clients perform is unique and interesting – and maybe titillating to the general public – but the legal issues presented are very standard and weigh very strongly in my clients’ favor.”
Drake, who filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the dancers in early June, opines that case law supports her belief that “Employees cannot be required to pay their employer to go to work under federal law… and employees can’t be forced to work for only tips anymore than a waitress can.”
Indeed, court and labor commission rulings in Alaska, California, Oregon and Texas have all concluded that dancers are employees. Nonetheless, Drake observes that the policy of misidentifying performers as independent contractors and then making them “pay for the pole” is still commonplace, largely due to dancer fears that speaking out against the practice will cost them an opportunity to work.
Given that a 2007 case in San Francisco cost the Gold Club $3.26 million, many attorneys wonder why the practice continues, although the aforementioned fears and large profit made from the dancers’ efforts provide huge incentives.
As far as Drake is concerned, the practice is a clear example of how owners and managers “are taking advantage of the fact that women in this industry may be hesitant to assert their rights to wages.”
If the Minnesota case proves nothing else, it proves that an increasing number of dancers are refusing to live in fear and, instead, are demanding that their voices be heard and their work be properly rewarded.
