Nudity, yes. Chewing gum, no.
The owners of three Manhattan strip clubs were slapped with a class-action lawsuit Tuesday by two former dancers who claim they were forced to follow a long list of rules in order to shed their clothes at the high-end skin palaces.
Melody Flynn, of Brooklyn, and Martina Antoinette de Truff, of Manhattan, say the management at the Flashdancers, Private Eyes and New York Dolls clubs made them “maintain at least three sets of uniforms — two gowns and one swimsuit — for each shift worked.”
“The adult- entertainment industry in New York City and elsewhere remains largely out of compliance with the basic worker protection statutes,” the suit says. “The clubs, three popular New York City adult clubs, are no exception.”
The Manhattan federal court filing also says the gals were prohibited from “using glitter and/or heavy perfume,” “carrying cellphones on the dance floor” and “chewing gum while at work.”
The work rules were included to bolster claims that father-and-son owners Barry Lipsitz and Barry Lipsitz Jr. illegally misclassified their dancers as “independent contractors” in order to deny them minimum wage and overtime payments.
“You would think that [high-end] clubs like these would pay these women properly,” said the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Justin Swartz.
“There is a lot of money flying around at these places, and it seems like an unfair money grab to take some of what belongs to those who provide the service at these clubs.”
The suit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of Flynn, de Truff and at least 100 other strippers who have worked at the clubs since 2007.
Swartz said he believes the suit is the first filed since Manhattan federal Judge Paul Engelmayer last week cited similar work rules as evidence that rival club Rick’s Cabaret misclassified its dancers as independent contractors.
Former strippers at Rick’s Cabaret filed a $5-million-plus class-action lawsuit in 2009, alleging that the club violated federal and state labor laws by failing to pay them a salary. Instead, the dancers said they were paid directly from customers — including “performance fees” for private lap dances.
There are similar cases also pending.
“We are trying to clean up this industry club by club,” Swartz said. “Last week’s decision was an important step in meeting that goal.”
A lawyer for Barry Lipsitz and the clubs did not return requests for comment.