Wage Lawsuit Alleges Exotic Dancers were Misclassified as Independent Contractors

Being misclassified as independent contractors can give workers grounds for a lawsuit against the employer. That’s allegedly the case for a Miami exotic dancers beat club in a new wage and hour lawsuit.

Being misclassified as independent contractors means that employees could be unnecessarily and illegally excluded from certain protections afforded to them by state and federal laws. The King of Diamond Strip Club in Miami is now facing a lawsuit based on an allegation from employees that they are misclassified as independent contractors.

Eight different exotic dancers have come together as a class to file the wage and hour lawsuit. They could be entitled to receive approximately $1.8 million after a federal jury determined on Tuesday that the strip club and the owner violated the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The workers alleges that because they were misclassified as independent contractors they were denied proper overtime and additional wages. The jury found that the defendants either showed reckless disregard for or knew about the law when they wrongfully classified the dancers as independent contractors rather than employees.

The dancers were awarded more than $818,000 in unpaid overtime wages and minimum wages as a result of the lawsuit.

The number of lawsuits associated with being misclassified as independent contractors has been on the rise in recent years. A number of companies have been accused of improperly classifying workers as independent contractors to avoid paying out overtime and other necessary wages.

The plaintiffs initiated their wage and hour lawsuit in 2014 claiming that there was an illegal wage policy in place at the King of Diamond Strip Club and on behalf of the other involved company, Galardi South Enterprises Consulting Inc.

A settlement was achieved in a previous case in June 2012 when dancers brought a similar suit against Galardi South Enterprises Consulting Inc. The dancers alleged that they were scheduled to perform regimented dances on stage, performed personal dances for customers, and were required to spend time with customers in semi-private rooms at prices established by the club, in addition to being given instructions regarding the speed at which at which they undressed on stage.

Furthermore, they alleged that they were misclassified as independent contractors because the club operators demanded that they attend unpaid staff meetings, and regulated both the interactions with customers as well as the attire worn. Furthermore, the workers were required to pay a shift fee to perform during particular shifts and were penalized for not showing up for a scheduled shift or for tardiness, according to the misclassified as independent contractors complaint.

This meant, according to the workers, that they were deprived of overtime and minimum wage as based on the rules in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

If you and potentially your co-workers have been misclassified as independent contractors and you believe you should be entitled to overtime and appropriate minimum wages because of this, you need to schedule a consultation with an experienced attorney as soon as possible to protect your best interests.

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