Manhattan Strip Club Bouncers Granted Certification in Overtime Pay Lawsuit

Bouncers for three Manhattan-based strip clubs were granted collective class certification in a lawsuit claiming their bosses failed to compensate them overtime pay, violating the Fair Labor Standards Act.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failia said the bouncers’ claims clearly met the threshold for class member notification and ruled against club owners, stating their factual disputes were premature.

Judge Failia found that the bouncers’ overtime pay lawsuit allegations “were subject to a common policy or plan that violated the law.”

“In addition to the allegations … plaintiffs offer four factual declarations making similar claims of off-the-clock work and failure to pay overtime at the appropriate rate,” Judge Failla said. “Specifically, each plaintiff details the hours he was intended to work per shift, the circumstances requiring him to continue working past the end of his shift, and the lack of any overtime compensation for these additional hours. Accordingly the court determines that plaintiffs have satisfied their burden.”

Bouncers Say They Were Denied Overtime Pay

Lead plaintiffs Martin Racey, Kevin McDonald, Gary Williams and Alex Abreu collectively hit the Manhattan strip clubs, FlashDancers Gentlemen’s Club, Private Eyes Gentlemen’s Club, and New York Dolls Gentlemen’s Club and their owners with a complaint in New York federal court in October, claiming that they were not paid for working overtime, often into the early hours after their scheduled shifts.

All three of the former bouncers stated that while they regularly worked more than 40 hours per week during their employment at the clubs, they were only paid on a per-shift basis of eight hours per shift, without compensation for any overtime pay for the additional hours, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and New York labor laws (NYLL).

The bouncers motioned to certify the collective class action lawsuit in February to include other bouncers and “floor men” who similarly were working overtime at the named clubs and were deprived of overtime pay in the three years prior to the overtime pay lawsuit filing.

In April, the club owners filed an opposition to the motion for class certification, asserting that bouncers were exempt from federal overtime pay requirements and that conditional certification is not proper where a defendant demonstrates it will likely succeed at trial in proving that the employees are not entitled under the FLSA or the NYLL to overtime pay.

However, Judge Failia threw out these arguments, ruling that factual disputes should be argued only once potential class members are provided a chance to participate.

Judge Failia also ruled that work situation discussion specifics between the bouncers and fellow floor men regarding working conditions were not necessary because the contradictory accounts alone added merit to the case and therefore should be presented later in the case.

Additionally, Judge Failia denied the owners motion to modify class notification documents and the push for a 30-day class member opt-in.  However, she did order the notices to include defense counsels’ contact information and wording to state that even if the potential class members are deposed or provide case information, they will not be entitled to a payout.

The Manhattan Strip Clubs Overtime Pay Lawsuit is Martin Racey et al. v. Jay-Jay-Cabaret Inc. d/b/a/ Flash Dancers et al., Case No. 1:15-cv-08228, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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