An exotic dancer in Brooklyn, NY is suing her employer, claiming she was not adequately compensated for the 12-hour shifts she worked stripping at private parties and events.
According to Crystal DiCesare’s complaint, Dial-A-Dancer stiffed her on everything from wages to overtime and tips, garnishing her income so severely that she was no longer earning minimum wage. The lawsuit was filed in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.
DiCesare quit working for Dial-A-Dancer two months after she began working with them last October.
“She didn’t like getting screwed out of money she was promised,” said plaintiff’s attorney William Rand.
Their complaint alleges that Dial-A-Dancer owner Roger Otway refused to pay his dancers an hourly wage and skimmed money off the top of their tips. DiCesare claims that after working multiple 12-hour shifts, her weekly pay usually amounted to less than $200. She is seeking back pay and overtime pay in compensatory damages as well as other damages related to her central claim.
Dial-A-Dancer’s only public comment on the case was that their dancers are “independent contractors, and hired as such.”
