Famous “Sopranos” Strip Club Faces Wage and Hour Lawsuit

A famous New Jersey strip club faces a potential class action wage and hour lawsuit for allegedly failing to pay dancers minimum wage and reimbursing retained tips. The famous strip club in question served as a stand-in for the “Bada Bing” club often featured in the hit series “The Sopranos.”

This club and another establishment under the same owner, has come under fire for allegedly retaining tips the dancers received for private dances, charging the dancers house fees, and failing to pay adequate minimum wage.

The proposed class action wage and hour lawsuit recently went to federal court, lead by plaintiff Patricia Durso naming Satin Dolls and The Harem as defendants.

Durso accuses both New Jersey clubs of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state wage laws, while seeking to recover unpaid wages, retained tips, and illegal deductions from wages.

Under the FLSA, businesses are required to pay at least the federal minimum wage rate and pay overtime benefits to employees who work over 40 hours per week unless they are exempt under federal employment classification.

Employees are protected by state and federal wage and hour laws, and can seek legal action if their minimum wage rights are violated.

Overview of Wage and Hour Allegations

According to the proposed class action wage and hour suit, the class could consists of over 100 current and former employees if approved.

“The plaintiff Durso and putative class action members were all subject to defendants’ policies and willful practices of refusing to pay employees the statutory minimum wage, unlawfully demanding, accepting and retaining gratuities received by its employees, and improperly deducting ‘fines,’ ‘fees’ and miscellaneous improper surcharges from its employees’ wages,” stated the wage and hour lawsuit.

Furthermore, owner Anthony Cardinalle had controlled the day to day operations from June 2013 to present and had the power to hire and fire employees to his own discretion, according to the complaint.

Durso had worked at the Satin Dolls and The Harem clubs from 2015 to 2016, stating that Cardinalle had retained tips even though customers were required to provide tips to employees for private or VIP dances.

Customers were under the impression that all of tips would go to the employees, while employees were required to give a share of their tips to the managers and other employees who do not normally receive tips.

Additionally, the strip clubs had an allegedly improper policy requiring dancers to pay “fines” to miscellaneous subcharges that ultimately affected the minimum wage rates of the dancers.

According to her class action wage and hour lawsuit, Durso is seeking to recover all unpaid wages, retained tips, and other compensations for other minimum wage violations.

The Wage and Hour Class Action Lawsuit is Durso v. Satin Dolls Inc. et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-03385, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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