Atlanta, GA - On June 14, 2012, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia approved a $1.55 million settlement for 80 exotic dancers who worked at Club Onyx in Atlanta, Georgia.
The settlement, which is secured by a $3 million confession of judgment to be collected upon in the event of a payment breach, resolves this wage and hour collective action filed against Defendants Galardi South Enterprises, Inc., Galardi South Enterprises Consulting, Inc., Pony Tail, Inc., Jack Galardi, and Michael Kap. The action, brought in July of 2009, alleged that Defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) by misclassifying the exotic dancers at Club Onyx as independent contractors, failing to pay them any wages, and charging them fines and fees in order to work. In September 2011, the Court granted summary judgment in favor of the dancers, holding that, as a matter of law, the dancers are employees under the FLSA. The parties reached a settlement before damages issues were decided.
Plaintiffs’ Counsel Anna P. Prakash stated, “We are extremely happy that our clients, who have patiently endured nearly three years of litigation, will finally be receiving significant compensation for their work at Club Onyx. We are proud to have been a part of this case, which sends a strong message to employers in the adult entertainment industry that they cannot expect to continue misclassifying and failing to pay their dancers without facing consequences for doing so.”
Plaintiffs are represented by Steven Andrew Smith, E. Michelle Drake, and Anna P. Prakash from Nichols Kaster, PLLP, which has offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota and San Francisco, California. The case is entitled Clincy, et al. v. Galardi South Enterprises, Inc., et al., No. 09-CV-2082-RWS (N.D. Georgia).
