Dancers File Unpaid Wages Lawsuit Against Florida Strip Club

A Florida strip club is facing a proposed unpaid wages class action lawsuit from a group of dancers alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors.

Each of these women are alleging they are due unpaid wages from the strip club, which had allegedly denied them minimum wage benefits by misclassifying them as independent contractors rather than full time employees.

This potential wage and hour class action lawsuit was filed in Florida federal court and names Bare Assets Strip Club and parent company 1406 Group LLC as defendants.

Among their allegations, the dancers claim they were not paid minimum wage, were forced to work solely for tips and that their tips were pooled with other dancers and with workers who did not work for tips.

This directly violates the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which requires companies to pay all employees overtime benefits and to compensate all tip workers as to meet federal minimum wage requirements.

Overview of Unpaid Wages, FLSA Violations

According to the proposed wage and hour class action lawsuit, Bare Assets forced dancers to subsist on the tips provided by customers to avoid paying overtime and had even charged dancers certain fees for certain shifts they worked.

These fees were taken out of the tips the dancers earned, which incurred for showing up late and for dancing at particular times. Due to the alleged unpaid wages, dancers would go home with as little as $25 on some nights.

“These establishments should not continue to exploit dancers without recognizing that they are entitled to the protections afforded by the FLSA… [I]’d like to achieve recognition and I’d like to force other clubs to recognize that there are compliance obligations that they are not following,” the plaintiffs’ lawyer stated.

Additionally, Bare Assets allegedly misclassified the dancers as independent contractors, in order to avoid paying standard minimum wage and overtime benefits.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer argues that the dancers qualify as minimum wage workers because the club’s management had control over hiring and firing of the dancers as well as their daily work routines.

The club even imposed rules regarding stage performances, how much money to charge customers, and even how the dancers were supposed to interact with customers, according to the unpaid wages complaint.

Lead plaintiff Diana Bennet had worked at the club from January 2012 to January 2016, and has filed this legal action on behalf of all current and former Bare Assets dancers. The proposed wage and hour class action lawsuit applies to dancers who worked for the club as far back as three years, and who want compensation for unpaid wages.

It is important to note that Bare Assets is not the first Tampa strip club facing allegations over unpaid wages, with Bella Mia Inc. allegedly misclassifying their dancers as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wage benefits.

The Bare Assets Unpaid Wages Class Action Lawsuit is Diana Bennett v. 1406 Group, LLC et al., Case No. 8:16-cv-01750, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division.

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