POWIP Piece of Work In Progress – Former Abode of Dan Collins

Pussy Gaoler

Pussy Per Se may seem terribly reductive, but when the synecdoche is self-applied, and when it is less humiliating than being categorized by the state, perhaps one can make an exception. Contrary to legend, it is not Mordred and his minions who slew King Arthur, but lawyers armed with a prong:

It was clause 2 that slew King Arthur’s, and which threatens many businesses in the commonwealth as well as individuals trying to make a living on their own. Is stripping within “the usual course of the business of the employer?” This is a no brainer. Strippers are not IC’s under this prong. Everything in a strip club, from the neon outline of a naked woman outside to the cover charge to the overpriced drinks to the peculiar architecture (lap dance areas, champagne rooms, a stage, for crissakes) is based on bare pussy. King Arthur’s argued otherwise, that it sold liquor and the dancers were the equivalent of TVs and pool tables in sports bars. The judge chided the defendant: “A court would need to be blind to human instinct to decide that live nude entertainment was equivalent to the wallpaper of routinely-televised matches, games, tournaments and sports talk.” Thus, a strip club may hire electricians and plumbers, for example, as IC’s, because they are outside the “usual course of the business.” But strippers must be employees.

The winning co-counsels for Chaves, Shannon Liss-Riordan and Tod Cochran (presently working for separate law firms) have certified the case as a class action, and now, representing all dancers for King Arthur’s, are in “settlement discussions,” according to Liss-Riordan, who has previously represented skycaps, baristas and waitstaff in their quest for wages. Damages can be assessed going back three years, and would include back minimum wages, overtime and a return of all tip-out fees. Cochran says the damages for all the dancers, about 70, involved in the class action could run into six figures, and then that amount, according to the law, would be trebled.

Cochran is now suing a number of other clubs, including Ten’s Show Club in Salisbury and five clubs in the Springfield area owned by The Worthington Shops. The basis of the two suits is the same as in King Arthur’s, and with prong No. 2 going for him, Cochran doesn’t see how the verdicts will differ. Liss-Riordan, not yet involved in either case, agrees.

All strip clubs in Massachusetts should fall like dominoes, and to limit their liability, they are forcing their dancers to become full-fledged employees. They are saying it’s the law, and it is. Cochran explains that because one can only sue for three years of back wages, the more months a club can operate with everyone on payroll means fewer damages when it is sued.

Next, the SEIU moves in, as with day care workers in Michigan. In ObamaWorld, freedom of association means you are free to be associated with whomever the government forces you to.

Love how the moniker works in "purr" and "say". Via Treach.

Dan Collins

Dan Collins is a dude who blogs. He used to blog elsewhere. Now he blogs here.

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