STRIPPER RESOURCES
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
It is illegal for patrons of strip clubs to assault dancers. It is also illegal for strip clubs to allow patrons of strip clubs to assault dancers. Your strip club has a legal duty to protect you from dangerous patrons and to provide a safe and healthy workplace for you and your coworkers. This paper discusses your right to safety at work and some ideas for things that you can do to protect yourself when your safety is threatened or violated.
Federal Law Protections
Under the National Labor Relations Act, strippers have the right to unionize and to engage in concerted activities to address or improve their working conditions, and they have the right not to be retaliated against for doing so.
Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, all employees have the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex. Sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination. Sexual violence in the workplace is considered a form of sexual harassment.
The law recognizes two general kinds of sexual harassment that can occur in the workplace: (1) Hostile Work Environment harassment, which involves actions or behaviors that are so inappropriate that they create an abusive work atmosphere, and (2) Quid Pro Quo harassment, in which submission to sexual conduct is made a condition of employment benefits. Although normally hostile work environment claims involve repeated harassment, in some cases a single incident of harassment can be so severe that it creates a hostile work environment. An employee can establish that her employer is liable for the harassment of a third party (for example, a patron of the establishment) by showing that the employer knew or should have known about the harassment.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, all employees have the right to a safe workplace, including one which is free of violence.
Federal Law Protections: sans legalese
--You have the right to form a union. You also have the right to act with co-workers to address work-related issues in many ways. Examples include: talking with one or more co-workers about your wages or working conditions, circulating a petition, participating in a concerted refusal to work in unsafe conditions, openly talking about your pay and benefits, and joining with co-workers to talk directly to your employer, or to the media about problems in your workplace. Your employer cannot discharge, discipline, or threaten you for, or coercively question you about, this "protected concerted" activity.
FN: Sec. 7, NLRA.
--You can sue your employer in civil court for their negligence in creating an unsafe work environment that caused you personal bodily injuries, emotional distress, etc. FN: civil negligence tort
-- Under federal law, you have the right to not to be discriminated against on the basis of sex and gender. Sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination. Sexual violence in the workplace is considered a form of sexual harassment. FN: Civil Rights Act
--There are two types of sexual harassment that can occur in the workplace.
When actions of clients or employers are so inappropriate they create an abusive work environment for you as a dancer, and you can prove your employer knew or should have known that a client was harassing you. FN: Hostile Work Environment Harassment
When your employer forces you to submit to sexual harassment as a condition of your employment. FN: Quid Pro Quo
Use Your Rights
One way to use your rights is to enforce your rights through the legal system.
The way that you enforce your rights under the NLRA is to file an unfair labor practice (“ULP”) charge with the National Labor Relations Board on their website. For guidance on how to file a ULP, check out our Strippers United Guide to Filing a ULP.
The way that you access workers’ compensation is to immediately report your injury/illness to your employer and tell them that you were injured during the course of employment and are seeking workers’ compensation. If you do not notify your employer within 120 days, you may lose your right to benefits. After that, your employer may choose to either accept or deny the claim. If your claim is denied, you have the right to file a Claim Petition with the bureau for a hearing before a WC judge. After the judge makes a ruling, either side can file an appeal within 20 days.
Here is a flowchart that describes the steps involved with this process.
You can enforce your rights against discrimination and harassment two ways: one, by Filing A Charge of Discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), which enforces Title VII. You can either ask the agencies to investigate your claim and basically act as your lawyer or you can ask for a “Notice of Right to Sue” from the agency so that you can file a lawsuit against your employer in court.
You generally need to file this charge within 180 calendar days from the day the discrimination took place.
OSHA regulations are enforced by OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. You can contact OSHA to request an unannounced inspection of your workplace. You can remain anonymous by requesting that OSHA does not disclose your identity. Their website is www.osha.gov.
Another way you can use your rights is by organizing your workplace. Keep in mind that you have the right under the NLRA (mentioned above) to engage in “protected, concerted activities” such as the ones listed below. If you are fired in retaliation for demanding safer working conditions or filing a claim against your employer, you can file a ULP with the NLRB for retaliation and demand your job back.
Here are some ideas for strategies you can use at your club to engage in mutual aid and protections with your fellow strippers and to advocate for safer working conditions:
Talk to your coworkers
It’s legal to talk to your coworkers about your wages and working conditions, but you are going to be best off doing this away from work. For example, organize a meet up or a zoom call before work.
Figure out what your collective demands are and put them in writing. Talk to your coworkers about what they would most want to change about work. Here are some ideas we have for things you might demand from your boss:
Panic buttons
Panic buttons are buttons that you can carry on your person or have installed in private rooms/lap dance booths that immediately summon security when pressed. Washington dancers passed a law requiring clubs to provide them, and so have hotel housekeepers in many states with the help of their union, Unite Here. You can specify what the procedure should be for responding to panic button calls.
Black list for dangerous customers (banning anyone who has engaged in abusive behavior at the club)
Washington dancers passed this as part of their panic button law.
Certification/training for bouncers, perhaps background checks*
Bouncers have rules to follow;
Guaranteeing an escort to the car;
Listen to the dancers and remove customers behaving inappropriately
Bouncer could be fired for repeatedly breaking the rule
A dancer cannot be retaliated against by bouncer; neither can a DJ
Give dancers the power to remove customers (just like bartenders! Bartenders have the ability to remove customers in order to protect their safety and that of their customers, and dancers should too. Dancers should be believed when they say a customer needs to be thrown out, especially considering they don’t have a physical BAR between them and their customers like a bartender does.)
DJs cannot be bouncers at the same time -- but should be subjected to the same rules as bouncers
Grievance policy/procedure -- official channels for dancers to report issues to the club
Union workers usually demand grievance policies in their employment contracts. A grievance policy creates a procedure that workers can use to file complaints against their employer for violating their agreements. Usually there are multiple levels, where it starts with filling out a grievance form, then goes to a mediated conversation with the worker and a representative (such as a shop steward) and the employer, and if the worker isn’t satisfied with the conclusion of the mediation they can appeal to an arbitrator who makes a legally binding decision over the proper outcome of the dispute.
If there is a complaint, you could designate a rep who can take the issue to the boss to be heard (shop steward)
Club must be in good repair; clubs must be following OSHA guidelines
Have an actual cleaning crew -- dancers should not be forced to clean
No house fees -- that money should be going towards maintenance of our own health/safety
Club should provide dancers with benefits like an affordable employee health care plan
Decide how you want to go about achieving your demands. Your goal should be to get a written contract from your employer agreeing to your demands, rather than just a verbal promise.
Go on strike
Start a boycott
Start a petition
Here’s a template you could use:
Title
E.g. Petition to Demand Safe Working Conditions for Dancers at the Lusty Lady
Start the petition by introducing yourself and your call to action
E.g. We are dancers at The Lusty Lady who have been subjected to abusive, degrading, and unfair working conditions by our employer. Sign this petition to help us demand safer and more dignified working conditions.
Tell your story
Our employer regularly subjects dancers to an unsafe working environment and does nothing to protect us. Among dancers, our club has a reputation for being XYZ. We are sick of having to fear for our safety at work. It’s obvious to us that our employer doesn’t care about our health and safety. Dancers deserve a safe working environment and we deserve to be treated with dignity by our employer. We’re coming together to make the following demands to improve our health and safety at work:
Note: one way to protect yourself against a defamation lawsuit is to use language like “We believe” and “It’s our opinion that” and other language that demonstrates that you are stating your opinions/perspective rather than stating facts. If you do want to state facts, just be careful to state them accurately.
List your demands
Please sign our petition to tell our employer that you care about dancers’ safety and he should too.
Publicize the demands
Social media, news media, etc.
SU will share all of your materials with our following!
Create protest art
Posters/signs
Creative performance art
Build a base of support
Tap into your resources. You are part of the broader labor movement: reach out to nearby unions and worker centers, local DSA chapter, women's studies department at local college.
Reach out to other dancers at other clubs and start building a coalition among dancers throughout the city
Engage in a “walk out”
For example, make a plan with all your coworkers so that the next time a patron starts to act threatening towards a dancer and the club doesn’t intervene to protect you, ALL the dancers at the club walk off the job at the same time and make sure to tell your employer you’ll all go back to work when your safety demands are met
File claims to get DEMANDS
You can use a legal claim to help achieve a demand by negotiating a settlement agreement with your employer where they agree to meet your demand
Federal Claims
State claims
You can file other types of claims too such as wage claims if you’re being misclassified as an independent contractor
Impact litigation
Organize your coworkers and form a union
We’d love to talk to you more about how you can accomplish this!