Nude dancers push back against class-action settlementA growing number of exotic dancers want to block a national class-action settlement alleging workplace exploitation by Michigan-based Déjà Vu clubs, saying it will pay many dancers only a few hundred dollars each.
Kalamazoo dancer Merry Clark said in a letter to the court that the proposed $6.5-million settlement is "nowhere near enough" for her and other dancers she says have been outrageously exploited by Déjà Vu Services and related companies for "sweaty gross work."
Also, dancers' attorneys from as far away as Massachusetts and Tennessee have filed objections to the settlement ahead of a June 6 hearing in federal court in Detroit, saying the proposal is not fair, reasonable, or adequate.
Attorneys for the lead plaintiffs and for Déjà Vu say the settlement is fair and contains many non-monetary benefits for the dancers. They say objectors still represent a tiny handful of the more than 28,000 dancers and former dancers who are class members.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy can't modify the proposed settlement, but can only accept it or reject it as is, attorneys say.
The case centers on whether the dancers are employees or independent contractors — a classification that affects issues such as whether the clubs must pay them a minimum hourly wage or can instead charge them for doing business inside the clubs.
Though it's billed as a $6.5-million settlement, the proposal would provide only $920,000 in cash payments to settle claims from more than 28,000 dancers who worked at 64 different clubs in 18 states, including 11 in Michigan, Boston attorney Harold Lichten argued in a May 12 court filing.
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http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2017/05/25/opposition-growing-class-action-settlement/340369001/