A group of exotic dancers reached a settlement in a lawsuit claiming a Worcester strip club illegally charged kickbacks and required payment from tips, according to court documents.
The class action lawsuit, filed in July of 2020, had been set for a jury trial later this month.
The original plaintiff, Leah Saad, said in the complaint that the club issued her and other dancers false tax returns and required a “mandatory house fee kickback” of $30-$60 per shift, which sometimes left her and other dancers with none of their contractual $4.13 an hour, sometimes having to pay out of their own pockets.
The establishment also “engaged in regular and ongoing deductions and assignments of and from Plaintiff and other dancers’ tips,” according to the lawsuit.
Saad claimed that during the time of her employment from January of 2019 to February of 2020, the business shorted her $29,000.
Twenty-six other dancers joined the lawsuit.
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The lawsuit accused the club and its owner of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, Massachusetts minimum wage law, Massachusetts tip law, as well as unlawfully filing W2 tax information returns with the IRS.
Details of the settlement were not publicized on the U.S. District Court website.
The case had been referred for mediation previously, but settlement talks halted when the former manager Myles O’Grady, died, according to court records.
A notice from a mediator issued on Sept. 7 noted the case had not been settled and should be restored to the trial list, but another notice filed Monday indicated the case had been settled.
