Dancers launch $25M lawsuit against NYC's Sapphire Gentleman's Club after it 'fostered a toxic work environment' where they were asked 'to give xes acts for cash while club turned a blind eye'
- The $25 million lawsuit was filed against Sapphire Gentlemen's Club
- Two former dancers, Margaret O'Sullivan and Stephanie Krauel, claim the club was a toxic work environment with prostitution and illegal drug use
- The lawsuit also alleges that dancers who complained were subjected to retaliation that resulted in lost wages and harassment
Two former dancers, Margaret O'Sullivan and Stephanie Krauel, likened their bosses to brothel managers who ignored assaults, illegal drug use and underage drinking.
If dancers at the Sapphire Gentleman's Club complained about the work environment or about the alleged prostitution, they were subjected to retaliation that resulted in lost wages, up to $2,000 a night, and harassment, the complaint alleged.
The plaintiffs are seeking $10 million for compensatory damages related to emotional, physical and professional trauma, and $15 million in punitive damages.
Franchise managing partner Peter Feinstein, named a defendant, once described Sapphire as a place for a man 'to escape and get away for a few hours, and then go back home and be a dad and a good husband'
O'Sullivan and Krauel are both named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed against the club and its owners by labor attorneys Jon Norinsberg and Bennitta Joseph.
Franchise managing partner Peter Feinstein, who is named as a defendant in the suit, once described Sapphire as a place for a man 'to escape and get away for a few hours, and then go back home and be a dad and a good husband,' The Daily Beast reported.
The lawsuit reads: 'Fueled by greed and the unseemly promise of making "every man's fantasies come true," Sapphire New York created and sustained a toxic work environment, where Sapphire dancers were coerced into servicing patrons, with any sexual act a customer desired, for a price.
'And because greed inevitably leads to more deplorable behavior, the prostitution ring defendants created was a catalyst for a vast array of other unlawful acts.'
The lawsuit also alleges that the flashing lights and the loud music hid a work environment that was hostile and toxic.
It was alleged that the Sapphire club and its owners 'committed wage violations by classifying workers as independent contractors and cheated dancers by using pay-to-play policies, kickback schemes and theft of tips.'
'Defendants created and perpetuated a work culture where a customer's violent behavior was actually tolerated,' the lawsuit said. 'In doing so, the defendants sent the message that Sapphire's singular agenda was at all times to maximize profits, irrespective of the law, the safety of defendants' dancers or basic human decency.'
Instead, the club allegedly turned a blind eye to the hosts' behavior, underage drinking and illegal drug use.
'It was the most evil place I could imagine being in,' O'Sullivan said. Her mental health deteriorated during her time there, she said.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, O'Sullivan recalled a night she was alone with a man who had been referred to as a 'loyal customer,' and was getting impatient as he waited for her to give him oral sex. He stormed out when she said she would only dance for him.
'I remember being scared,' O'Sullivan told The Daily Beast. 'I was like, 'Gino's going to get mad at me.'
Gino, known as the club host, profusely apologized to the customer, but yelled and was 'visibly irate' at O'Sullivan, the complaint said.
'I was in pieces,' O'Sullivan said. She lasted less than year before leaving the club after a 'full mental breakdown' that landed her in the hospital.
The second ex-dancer listed as a plaintiff in the complaint is Stephanie Krauel, who worked at the club under the stage name 'Toni.'
'The first year was great,' she told The Daily Beast. 'Second year, things started to shift. And then, just gradually, it just kept getting worse and worse.'
She alleges in the suit that Gino sent her into a room where a naked man was waiting for her.
'Then Gino comes in and says, "The waitress is going to be right with you guys,' Krauel told The Daily Beast in an interview. 'And [he] just walks out of the room,' the suit alleges.
When she bolted from the room, refusing to interact with the naked customer, she said her job suddenly became harder for her.
'Many, many, many times I would have a customer and he'd want to go in the back room,' Krauel said.
'Gino would talk to the customer'—hosts had to approve it if a dancer and a client wanted to use a private room—'and he would come back to me and say the guy was no longer interested. And then I would see the customer walking out of a room about an hour later with one of Gino's girls.'
'If you wanted to continue working there, you just kind of kept your mouth shut,' Krauel explained.
Gino provided a statement to The Daily Beast saying that the lawsuit's allegations are 'false, untrue, and completely without merit.'
In response to the lawsuit, Sapphire's attorney Jeff Kimmel called the suit 'a litany of false allegations solely designed to garner publicity' in a statement to The Daily Beast.
'There are many measures in place to ensure the safety of everyone at the Club, including a clear and conspicuous complaint and/or reporting procedure allowing for anonymous complaints,' Kimmel's statement read. 'The safety, well-being and happiness of dancers is of foremost importance to the club.'
'Sapphire will vigorously defend against these false, frivolous and defamatory allegations,' Kimmel added.
Joseph and Norinsberg argued Kimmel's response, saying that their investigation had revealed the club's 'grave indifference to the safety and well-being' of its dancers.
'We are confident the truth will come to light through litigation, and that Sapphire will be held fully accountable for their unlawful and abhorrent conduct,' they said.
The club, with its velveted walls, bottle service, pounding music, has several locations in new York City and a location in Las Vegas.
Patrons have reportedly rubbed elbows with celebs including Travis Scott, Busta Rhymes, Ice-T, and Rob Kardashian.
Source:https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-New-York-Citys-Sapphire-Gentlemans-Club.html
