MOSHANNON — An exotic dancer from Rebelz Gentlemen’s Club in Moshannon has filed a class-action complaint accusing the club of illegally deducting fees and tips from dancers’ pay from private dances.
Briana Rae Harris, of Burham, filed the complaint on Jan. 20 in U.S. Middle District Court on behalf of herself and other similarly situated exotic dancers. The complaint reports there were more than 60 exotic dancers at the club over the last three years. Harris worked at the establishment from March to September 2021.
The club is located at 601 Spruce Road and is owned by Heather Varando, of Philipsburg, and Pablo Varando, of Orlando, Fla., who are both listed as defendants on the complaint. The lawsuit claims the club’s two owners violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law.
The suit claims that although “dancers at the club were classified by owners as independent contractors in an effort to avoid the guarantees of basic federal and state labor laws, dancers were and are employees in the eyes of the law and therefore entitled to these protections anyway.”
The complaint reads that since dancers were dependent upon the business for pay, they should not be classified as independent contractors.
The suit alleges that dance fees that were paid by customers were set by Rebelz without the dancers’ ability to negotiate. Rebelz allegedly only paid half of the dance fee to the dancer and any additional cash tips to be paid by a customer to a dancer during a private dance were held by the club until the end of the shift. At the end of each night, the dancer’s half of dance fees and their tips are combined and then further reduced by nightly “house fees,” “expenses” and other mandatory “tip-outs.” That deduction for wages and tips for private dances was allegedly illegally diverted by the business to subsidize labor cost for other employees, such as security staff and DJs.
“On multiple occasions, dancers complained to Heather Varando that they had been shorted tips and suffered from illegal
deductions from their tips. In response, Heather either ignored the complaints or took disciplinary action against dancers who raised these complaints, by reducing their work shifts or firing them,” wrote attorney James Goodley in the 17-page lawsuit.
Furthermore, the suit alleges dancers were required to be at the club on days of operation — Fridays and Saturday — by 8:30 p.m., and be ready to dance by 9 p.m.
Dancers were not allowed to leave the club until 6 a.m., and were not allowed the freedom to take breaks other than use the restroom or change outfits. Dancers need to request permission from “house mom” Heather Varando in order to take a night off.
In addition to seeking certification as a class action, the suit also seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
