PAHRUMP, Nev.—Courtesans are petitioning the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to form a union under the Communication Workers of America, an affiliated labor organization of the AFL-CIO.
Three people tied to the effort were fired from Pahrump-based brothel Sheri's Ranch, according to the petitioners, who are now working under the banner of United Brothel Workers, CWA Local 9413. The courtesans fired by Sheri’s Ranch are adult stars Jupiter Jetson, Adalind Gray and Paloma Karr. Jetson and Gray confirmed their firings in a joint interview with AVN on Wednesday. Note that Gray has posted on social media, highlighting key accusations against Sheri’s Ranch management. A website is also currently up for the union.
Jetson was the first person to be fired by management, and she learned this via email and by being locked out of her work accounts, she explained to AVN. Gray was the most recent courtesan to be fired, following Karr, who was not present for the interview.
Sheri’s Ranch management allegedly retaliated against organizing members of the brothel’s courtesan staff for driving to formally organize as a unit of the CWA, which broadly represents workers classified as media and communications professionals, in response to a new contract that the petitioners claim is unfair and overly broad.
AVN reviewed the disputed contract, and confirmed that it requires its courtesans, all independent contractors, to grant perpetual rights to intellectual property, including likenesses, in whole or in part. Per the language in the contract, it notes that employed courtesans “hereby irrevocably assign to the company and the company related entities, for no additional consideration, your entire right, title, and interest throughout the world in and to all photographs, videos [...] created, prepared, produced, authored, edited, modified, conceived, or reduced to practice in the course of performing the services.” These “services” are proscribed in the contract to refer to the services at the Ranch, per an additional provision in bold text that is meant to serve as an “avoidance of doubt.”
Additionally, the proposed contract grants Sheri’s Ranch the power of attorney coupled with an interest. Simply put, this form of power of attorney grants someone legal authority that cannot be revoked because they have a financial stake in the matter. Accordingly, the matter in this case concerns the content and material produced by the courtesans contracted with the Ranch. Unlike ordinary powers of attorney, it does not end if the person who granted it dies or attempts to revoke it later.
This was a chief concern for Jetson and Gray. During the interview, both stressed that they very much want to be reinstated at Sheri's Ranch and that they simply want to make the brothel a better and safer place to work for themselves and their fellow courtesans built around a workplace culture that respects autonomy.
"We drafted a collective email that about 25 of us signed on to," said Jetson, speaking of the initial demonstration of concern over the contract. "But we didn't really get any meaningful response. The most we got was a response to the collective email that essentially just said, you don't have to sign this contract until you have to sign this contract." Further, Jetson explains that the effort expanded, with the CWA and its attorneys launching a union drive.
This led to her firing, she added.
Over Christmas week, Jetson continued, the ranch's management released a new contract. She said this "wasn't standard for us."
"But they released this new contract saying that it was just to close up some loopholes in the original contract and clear up some clerical issues, and that really, there were no big changes that we should be aware of," Jetson recounted. "I had an attorney look it over for me, and what we realized was that there were major changes to this contract, largely in terms of the rights regarding our IP and our power of attorney."
Gray joined the conversation to build on her concern about the IP provisions in the contract.
Gray commented, "I would like to add a little bit to the IP section, because it is especially concerning for me and Jupiter, but anybody with an online following, such as myself, where I have spent years growing a fan base who is true to me and who is also supportive of my other goals in life, such as with my band.I work at Sheri's to pursue those types of dreams. But that doesn't allow them to own the products of those dreams either.
"I just could not bring myself to sign a contract that is so overbearing like that," she continued.
Gray and Jupiter called the contract "unheard of," "outlandish" and "predatory."
They added that they are organizing against additional elements in the brothel system, including what they characterized as, also, “predatory” limo fees, huge tip takes by the house, and other examples of wage theft. Wage theft is the alleged illegal withholding of salary by an employer.
A spokesperson for Sheri’s Ranch, marketing director Jeremy Lemur, told AVN in a statement that, in response to the accusations, management and the brothel’s parent company remain committed to being a “legally compliant part of Nevada’s licensed brothel system."
“For more than five decades ... the resort has operated in accordance with state and county law, maintaining agreements intended to protect the integrity of the brand and the well-being of the independent contractors who choose to work within it,” Lemur noted.
“We recognize the right of individuals to express their views and to pursue their interpretation of workplace structure,” he said. “Sheri’s Ranch remains confident in the longstanding legal and regulatory framework that has supported independent contractors operating their own businesses in association with the resort for decades.”
Asked about provisions in the contract causing discord, Lemur did not respond by publication time.
The petition from the courtesans was filed with the NLRB on February 6, according to government records reviewed by AVN.
The petitioners are represented by attorney Richard McPalmer of the firm Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld LLP, based in Emeryville, California. The petitioning unit of employees includes all “full-time, part-time, and on-call courtesans” and excludes “all other employees, guards, supervisors, and managers.”
In other documents filed with the NLRB and reviewed by AVN, the courtesans allege unfair business practices. These charges include wrongful termination, retaliation for union activity, and refusal to recognize the new CWA unit and negotiate.
