Exotic dancers entitled to minimum wage, Nevada court rules

CARSON CITY — Exotic dancers at the Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas won a victory from the Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday over efforts to collect wages for their work.

Attorneys involved in the case said the ruling will apply to dancers at other strip clubs around the state and possibly other businesses as well.

There are 30 strip clubs in Las Vegas alone and 12,000 dancers registered with the Metropolitan Police Department, according to a 2012 UNLV study.

The court, in a unanimous decision, said the six dancers who filed their wage dispute in 2009 are employees of the club based on an “economic realities” test for employment established in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which the court adopted for such disputes.

The decision reversed a lower court decision finding in favor of the club and sent the case back for further proceedings.

Attorneys for the club argued that no wage remediation was necessary “for those who work 18 hours per week, yet earn as much as $100,000 per year.”

Las Vegas attorney Thomas Christensen, who represents the dancers, said the ruling is significant because it will afford them protections as employees that they don’t now have as independent contractors.

Dancers, who are in a much weaker bargaining position, will now have some say over their employment, he said.

It will also apply to dancers in similar situations at other clubs, and could have ramifications for disputes in other occupations over whether workers are employees or independent contractors, Christensen said.

The decision will have a financial impact on the clubs, but it won’t be a huge factor in their cost of doing business, he said.

Las Vegas attorney Ryan Anderson, who no longer represents the dancers but who worked on the case for several years, said he is now working with other dancers to ensure they are afforded the same rights as those at the Sapphire club.

“We’re very happy with the Supreme Court ruling,” he said. “It is the culmination of many years of work. Strip clubs will have to change the way they do business, but in the long run it will be best both for the dancers and the clubs.”

The attorney representing the club did not respond to a request for comment.

The opinion noted that the Sapphire club contracts for semi-nude entertainment with approximately 6,600 performers. The agreement requires them to work a minimum six-hour shift on any day they choose to work.

The club has not paid any wages to the dancers. Their income is dependent upon tips and dancing fees paid by patrons.

The court said the economic realities test “examines the totality of the circumstances and determines whether, as a matter of economic reality, workers depend upon the business to which they render service for the opportunity to work.”

The court said the performers are more in line with wage earners toiling for a living than independent entrepreneurs.

“Given that Sapphire bills itself as the ‘World’s Largest Strip Club,’ and not, say, a sports bar or night club, we are confident that the women strip-dancing there are useful and indeed necessary to its operation,” the court said.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801.