On December 24, 2014, Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the owners of “Cheetahs Gentlemen’s Club & Restaurant” (“Cheetahs”), located at 252 West 43rd Street, New York, New York 10036 on behalf of all exotic dancers who have worked there.
The lawsuit alleges that the owners of Cheetahs have instituted widespread unlawful policies in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the New York Labor Law (“NYLL”). The Plaintiff class alleges that Defendants have treated their employees as independent workers, in direct violation of recent landmark court decisions. Specifically, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants refuse to pay their dancers any hourly wages whatsoever, despite the fact that they worked up to 45 hours per week. The Plaintiff class also alleges that Defendants failed to compensate their employees at a time-and-a-half rate for all hours worked in excess of 40 per workweek, as required under the FLSA and the NYLL.
Further, Plaintiffs claim that Defendants made unlawful deductions, which they called “House Charges”. Plaintiffs state that they received “House Charges” every single shift, and additional “House Charges anytime they showed up late to work or had to cancel a scheduled shift.
The Plaintiff class also claims that Defendants unlawfully misappropriated their tips. They claim that Defendants forced them to share their tips with workers who did not provide any sort of customer services, such as “House Moms” and DJs. Further, they claim that had a policy whereby they encouraged customers to tip dancers using “club scrip”, which was directly purchased from the club. Allegedly unbeknownst to customers who utilized “club scrip”, Defendants unlawfully retained a percentage of these tips to keep for themselves.
The lawsuit claims that Defendants failed to provide spread-of-hours pay to their employees. Employees who work over 10 hours in a single day, including working time plus time off for meals plus intervals off duty, are required by law to receive an additional hours pay from their employer. The lawsuit also alleges that the owners of these establishments further violated the NYLL through their failure to provide their employees with proper annual wage notices and statements. Further, it claims that Defendants failed to keep accurate time and pay records of wages and tips. Lastly, the Plaintiff class claims that Defendants required employees to purchase uniforms, often directly from the Defendant, without reimbursement for maintenance or upkeep.
We are seeking to represent all exotic dancers who work or have worked for Defendants. Eligible employees should contact us in order to join the case. For additional information, please call the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP at (212) 300-0375 or visit our website at www.fslawfirm.com.