Baltimore strip club dancers, other employees on The Block file minimum wage lawsuits

A group of exotic dancers, security guards and bartenders filed federal lawsuits this week over what they say are exploitative pay practices at several strip clubs on The Block in Baltimore.

The complaints claim the clubs misclassified dancers as nonemployee contractors, failed to pay minimum wages as required by law, forced dancers and other employees to split up their tips, and kept up to 50% of tips paid by credit card, among other issues.

The employees are suing for unpaid back wages from Chez Joey and Bottom’s Up Gentleman’s Club, which operate out of 415 E. Baltimore St., and from Club Harem, at 425 E. Baltimore St.

The clubs’ owners could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The lawsuit against Chez Joey and Bottom’s Up is a proposed class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of exotic dancers who worked at the clubs in the past three years. The plaintiffs in the Club Harem lawsuit include security guards and bartenders who say they were underpaid during the same period.

The plaintiff in the proposed class-action suit is Jaclyn Prasch, who worked as an exotic dancer at Bottom’s Up from March 2021 until October 2021 and at Chez Joey from October 2021 until January 2023, according to the complaint.

During that time, Prasch was not paid any wages for the hours she worked at the clubs. Instead, she received tips directly from customers for dancing on stage, selling drinks and providing dances to patrons. The clubs classified Prasch as a nonemployee contractor to avoid paying her minimum wage, according to the complaint.

Prasch was also required to pay her employer a “house fee” of $25 to $50 per evening shift and to give a portion of the tips she had earned to other club employees, usually about $20 or $40 per shift.

The clubs also deducted 50% of all tips that customers paid Prasch using credit cards, the complaint claims. The club’s deduction was significantly higher than the 2-5% processing fees charged by credit card companies.

Gregg C. Greenberg, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in both cases, has brought a number of wage lawsuits on behalf of exotic dancers. In 2015, he represented dancers at two Prince George’s County strip clubs in a lawsuit that ultimately landed before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court found the clubs’ owner owed back wages to the dancers because they were employees — not independent contractors — who were protected under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and corresponding Maryland wage laws.

“You have to pay your employees the minimum wage, at least,” Greenberg said Thursday. “As it works out, it’s actually the employees that pay the boss here, so that’s what these cases are about.”

The lawsuit against Club Harem raises similar claims, though the plaintiffs are security guards and bartenders who are paid slightly differently than the dancers in the suit against Chez Joey and Bottom’s Up.

One of the plaintiffs, Michael Gates, was Club Harem’s head of security from June 2017 until January 2023, according to the complaint. Gates routinely worked well over 40 hours per week and was typically paid a base wage of $100 per shift, plus tips from other employees.

Another plaintiff, who worked as both a bartender and an exotic dancer, was paid no wages for her dancing shifts unless she sold at least five drinks, at which point she would receive a base wage of $80 plus another $5 for each additional drink sold. Other bartenders were required to sell 10 or 20 drinks before receiving a base wage for their shift, according to the complaint.

The club often failed to pay employees at least minimum wage for the hours they worked, the complaint claims, and did not pay time and a half for overtime hours.

Both lawsuits allege the clubs violated the FLSA by paying employees less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and violated Maryland wage laws by paying less than the state minimum wage, which has risen from $11 an hour in 2020 to $13.25 per hour this year.

The complaints seek reimbursement for all house fees, also known as kickback charges; excessive credit card processing fees; tips split with other employees; and for direct wages under the applicable minimum wage for the time periods when the employees were working.