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...
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