Maryland Exotic Dancer Files Wage Class Action Lawsuit

Tipped employees are subject to a lower minimum wage in all but a few states, which is why wage and hour lawsuits are mounting throughout the country regarding pooled tips. One of the most recent was filed by Diamonde G., who worked as an exotic dancer at the Oasis Nite Club in Baltimore, Maryland.

Her unpaid wage lawsuit attorney says that Diamonde was required to pay support staff such as DJ’s and security guards up to $80 of her tips on weekend nights before she could take her own share of the money. She is seeking $200,000 in U.S. District Court over wages she says she was owed while working between 2009 and 2012.

In Maryland and other states, service employees who receive tips must have enough money at the end of the night from patrons to at least meet state minimum wage requirements. However, the courts also look askance at employers who allow money to be distributed to other employees. One of the most common instances is with restaurant servers whose tips also go to busboys, chefs and even shift managers.

Judges argue that these wage and hour lawsuits are valid in many cases because of a patron’s reasonable expectation that they are tipping the service worker, whether it is a waiter, waitress or exotic dancer. As such, dancers in Maryland have begun filing unpaid wage lawsuits at an increased rate because they say that they have been misclassified as independent contractors so they are not subject to laws regarding tipped employees.

It is not the venue that matters, an unpaid wage lawsuit attorney would note, but rather what level of control an employer can exert. Diamonde says that she was required to attend regular meetings at the Oasis Nite Club. Similar cases in recent years also note the possibility of controlling workplace attire as well as disciplinary action that independent contractors do not face as part of their contracts.

Men and women in the service professions who believe that they have missed out on income because of misappropriated pooled tips or other factors have legal options. Learn more and get a free consultation by filling out the short form at the Wage & Hour, Unpaid Overtime Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. Cases are mounting as employees realize that they may have been shortchanged, but it is important to act quickly as the statute of limitations allows for just two years after the final violation of wage laws.