Exotic dancers have filed class-action suits against three San Francisco strip clubs, in a surging California fight to improve working conditions for thousands of exotic dancers statewide.
The San Francisco Chronicle says that makes twenty nearly-identical class action suits on behalf of about five thousand or more exotic dancers who've worked at some thirty adult clubs since December 1984.
The paper says a group of Los Angeles attorneys is representing the dancers. The latest action, the paper says, was filed on behalf of dancers at the Casbah, Garden of Eden, and Roaring 20s clubs on Broadway in San Francisco.
The suits claim the dancers are full employees, not independent contractors, and are entitled to minimum wage, overtime after eight hours, not having to pay club owners' rent, or buy expensive drinks in order to perform, the Chronicle says.
The paper says the dancers have long complained about paying stage fees of $125 or more, or of giving half their lap dance fees to the clubs. The clubs sued Tuesday, owned by Déjà vu, are said to be notorious for fining dancers for anything from chewing gum, clapping out of time, or "having a bad attitude", the paper says.
In July 1998, after four years in court, the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre agreed to pay $2.85 million to more than 500 dancers who had asked for more than $12 million, the Chronicle says, including back wages. They also became bona fide employees of the theatre, the paper says.
