Scores Phoenix Among Defendants in Exotic Dancer’s Wage and Hour Lawsuit

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From Arizona comes a proposed collective and class action filed against New 4125 LLC, which does business as the Scores Phoenix Gentleman’s Club, and three other defendants over allegedly unpaid minimum and overtime wages. The plaintiff alleges Scores Phoenix, as well as co-defendants 4125 LLC, Cheetah Operations, LLC and an individual owner, paid exotic dancers no wages at all for any hours worked. The dancers’ only form of compensation comes from tips received from customers, the 19-page suit claims.

The case goes on to allege the defendants have misclassified their dancers as independent contractors, a status not afforded protection under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). According to the suit, the dancers must divide their tips among management and other employees who do not customarily receive customer gratuities in addition to remitting a “house fee” for each shift. 

On the matter of customer tips, the lawsuit claims the defendants encourage patrons to tip dancers using “Dance Dollars” rather than real cash. From the complaint (emphasis ours):

“Under this system, customers purchase Dance Dollars from the club using their credit cards. Customers then redeem the Dance Dollars for dances with [the plaintiff] and putative Class Members. When [the plaintiff], FLSA Class Members, and Arizona Class Members turn in the certificates to the clubs for cash, [the defendants] do not return the full value to them, but instead retain a portion of the tips. This resulted in [the defendants] taking a portion of the tips that should have been paid to the dancers. This portion grossly exceeds the fee paid by the club as a merchant fee to the credit card companies.”