Club owners now claim they’ve been unfairly and repeatedly targeted by state investigators.Ī Dreamgirls Seattle dancer who was injured while fighting another stripper in December 2014 has seen her workers’ compensation claim upheld by L&I investigators. Recently, though, two injured dancers have seen some success in their efforts to obtain workers’ comp payments. Most of the clubs share investors and carry the Déjà Vu or Dreamgirls brand names the owners of downtown Seattle’s Little Darlings club have also sued.Īccording to the clubs’ lawsuit, regulators with the Department of Labor & Industries have routinely held, during the past 25 years, that the women aren’t eligible for workers’ comp. In the past week, two similar lawsuits have been brought in King County Superior Court by the owners of strip clubs in Seattle’s Lake City, Sodo and downtown neighborhoods, as well as clubs in Tacoma, Spokane and Tukwila. They pay their own business and occupation taxes and may not be entitled to workers’ compensation if they’re injured on the job. Local laws vary, but dancers are required to obtain licenses from the state and some municipalities. Despite being the clubs’ sole attraction, they’re viewed under law as independent entertainers, similar to musicians. In essence, they rent the stage and “personal suites” used for stripping. saw his clubs seized following a long-running Seattle Police Department-FBI investigation that prompted a federal prosecution.Ĭlub owners contend that until recently, though, the state hadn't pushed to ensure injured dancers received workers' compensation payments.ĭancers at the clubs are required to sign leases with the club owners. The area's longtime strip club maven - the late Frank Colacurcio Sr. In Seattle, strip clubs have historically been subjected to extreme scrutiny from law enforcement and regulators. Strippers pay a large portion of their earnings back to the clubs in a system previously decried by a U.S.

The economics of Washington state strip clubs are particularly brutal, largely because the alcohol-free clubs draw their income almost exclusively from high-priced soft drinks and the fees paid by dancers. Abe noted that some dancers have received workers’ comp benefits, depending on their individual cases. “The department position is that under state law, workers who dance at these types of entertainment clubs are covered workers,” L&I spokeswoman Debby Abe said Thursday. The state Department of Labor & Industries has taken a different view, contending that, at times, dancers are entitled to workers’ comp if they’re injured at the clubs.

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