Exotic Dancer Represented by Nichols Kaster, PLLP Files Lawsuit Against Club Cabaret for Unpaid Wages

    MINNEAPOLIS, MN, May 29, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- An entertainer who worked at the adult entertainment club, Club Cabaret, filed a lawsuit on May 26, 2015 in Illinois federal court for unpaid wages and double damages under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as for damages under Illinois state law. The Plaintiff filed her complaint individually and on behalf of all other entertainers who worked at the club within the past three years. According to the complaint, Club Cabaret, which is located in Peoria, Illinois, misclassifies its entertainers as "independent contractors," instead of employees. The complaint explains that the club's unlawful independent contractor scheme allows it to (1) avoid paying its entertainers minimum wages, (2) avoid paying the state and federal payroll taxes, and (3) generate revenue directly from the pockets of its employees by charging them fees to work and imposing fines for rule violations.

Paul Lukas, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, stated, "For years the courts have repeatedly ruled that dancers at strip clubs are not independent contractors and that treating them as such is a violation of law. Stubbornly ignoring these rulings, strip clubs like Club Cabaret continue to operate these illegal independent contractor schemes, in order to skirt the minimum wage, overtime, and payroll tax responsibilities that law abiding employers follow. They treat these workers as a lucrative source of income by charging them to work, fining them for not following the rules, and also force them to rely solely on customer tips to support themselves. The strip club industry seems content with changing only when sued, and Club Cabaret is no different."

The case is entitled Woods v. Club Cabaret, Inc. (case number 1:15-cv-01213-JBM-JEH), and is filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. The Plaintiff is represented by Paul J. Lukas and Brittany Bachman Skemp from Nichols Kaster, PLLP, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Julie L. Galassi from Hasselberg, of Rock, Bell, & Kuppler, LLP in Peoria, Illinois. Additional information is available here or by contacting Nichols Kaster toll-free at (877) 448-0492.

Nichols Kaster is a nationally recognized plaintiffs' firm that focuses on representing employees and consumers whose rights have been violated. The firm was selected as a member of the National Law Journal's Litigation Boutiques Hot List, ranked as a Best Law Firm by U.S. News & World Report, selected as a top plaintiffs' employment law firm by Law360 and named one of the top 50 Elite Trial Lawyers by The National Law Journal and Law.com.

The firm is led by its partners, who are regularly selected by their peers as Super Lawyers, and sit on the boards of numerous professional organizations, including the National Association of Employment Lawyers, the ABA Fair Labor Standards Legislation Committee and the Council for the Minnesota State Bar Association's Consumer Litigation Section.

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