Former dancer sues ‘Strippers,’ claims Middle Georgia club isn’t paying minimum wage
A former dancer at the Byron club Strippers filed a lawsuit against the club and its owner last week, claiming the club is not paying workers minimum wage, court records show.
Rodnisha Harris, a dancer who worked at the club as late as May 2022, alleged that owner Justin Chambers categorized dancers as “independent contractors,” making them share tips with other workers at the club and failing to pay dancers wages other than their tips, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Macon.
“Not only that, but the clubs require that the dancers actually pay them to dance and require them to pay out a large amount of their tips to the club and other workers,” said Kimberly Martin of Harris’ law firm Martin & Martin in a statement about the lawsuit.
Chambers and supervisors at Strippers were said to have forced dancers to “pay kickbacks or fees” for each shift they worked, documents show. In addition, 15% of their tips apparently went to the club’s DJ and $15 from each “private dance” was tipped out.
The lawsuit further contends that Chambers did not tell the workers in advance that they would not make minimum wage.
Chambers was in charge of all fees for the dancers and knowingly “participated in the decision” to make them independent contractors instead of employees, Harris alleged in the lawsuit. She has demanded a jury trial.
Harris filed the lawsuit for herself and people “similarly situated” within the club. It was unclear in court documents whether other dancers would opt into the current lawsuit with Harris against the club.
“The club and Mr. Chambers brazenly continue to violate the FLSA because they think dancers will be too scared to stand up to them. Ms. Harris is not too scared,” Martin said in the statement.
Harris’ lawsuit marks the second time in the past five years a dancer has brought allegations against the club. Another dancer named Destiny Bailey sued the company in 2018 – when it operated under the name “Neon Cowboy” – for similar wage inequities.
The club eventually paid Bailey and four other dancers in that lawsuit a total of $147,000, according to a settlement from 2019.
“However, they did not change their pay policies,” Martin said of the 2018 lawsuit in the statement. “By not changing their pay policies and classifying dancers as employees, Strippers does not have to pay worker’s compensation insurance or pay into unemployment.”
The Byron club sits just off Interstate 75 and is notable, in part, for its billboards, which declare, “Need We Say More,” to attract patrons passing through Peach County.
Chambers’ father, prominent bar owner John Chambers, ran the club until his death in 2019. John was known in the region both for his adult establishments and his brief career as a professional wrestler.
A lawsuit represents only one side of a legal argument.
