Reno Female Strippers Must Pay Fees To Dance Topless, Class Action Says

A group of female “adult interactive cabaret performers” have lodged a class action lawsuit against the city of Reno, Nev. alleging that the city’s fee assessed on topless dancers infringes on their freedom of speech and other Constitutional rights.

Lead plaintiffs say the new licensing fees, along with other regulations, imposed by the city will destroy their income and violates their rights.

According to the Reno class action lawsuit, city code was amended to require female strippers who wish to dance topless to pay a licensing fee amounting to several hundred dollars.

In addition, they must pass an extensive background check and pay a fine if they are caught dancing without a proper license.

“To become a fully licensed Adult Interactive Cabaret Performer the entertainer must obtain a business license by payment of a $200 deposit fee to the Nevada State Department of Taxation, an $85 fee to the City of Reno for a business license, and a $105.25 fee for the FBI background check and other administrative costs imposed by the Reno Police Department,” alleges the Reno topless dancing fee class action lawsuit.

“At present, the initial cost of obtaining all the three licenses required to become a fully licensed Adult Interactive Cabaret Performer is in excess of $390.”

In addition, there are only four venues in Reno where women can legally dance topless, notes the complaint.

The Reno class action points out that while the city can process a marriage license within hours any day of the week, it will only process topless dancing applications Monday through Thursday. The plaintiffs say these restrictions infringe on their ability to earn an income.

Further, alleges the complaint, the law is unfairly applied to only women, and not men.

“Woman who have danced topless as strippers have been fined by the City of Reno, while…not a single male has been fined, disciplined or punished by Defendants for dancing topless as a stripper in the same manner as females, although many men have done so, openly and notoriously with plenty of prior notice through advertising on large billboards outside downtown casinos like Chippendales at Harrah’s and Thunder from Down Under at the Atlantis’ electric video sign on Virginia Street,” alleges the complaint.

The Reno topless dancing fee class action lawsuit alleges that men are not subject to the same licensing fees or application process.

The plaintiffs in the Reno topless dancing class action lawsuit bring a litany of other complaints against Reno and its city manager. The dancers say that their due process rights were violated in the making of the law.

According to the complaint, the law also requires topless dancers to be 21-years-old or older, noting “dancers who are between 18 to 21 years of age…will lose, in the aggregate, between $3,300,000 and $4,950,000 by not being allowed to work,” under the revised city regulations.

The revised law went further, to ban 18 to 21-year-old patrons of strip clubs, according to the complaint.

The Reno dancing fee class action lawsuit seeks to represent three sets of Class Members: dancers under 21; all female dancers; and all 18 to 21-year-olds who wish to patronize strip clubs.

Are you affected by Reno’s new topless dancing regulations? Tell us more.

The plaintiffs are represented by Mark R. Thierman, Joshua Buck and Leah Jones of Thierman Buck LLP.

The Reno Topless Dancing Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Castellanos, et al. v. City of Reno, et al., Case No. 3:19-cv-00693-MMD-CLB, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

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