Lawsuit: Peabody Strip Club Violates State Tip-Sharing Laws

PEABODY, MA — Three dancers hope the lawsuit they filed against the Golden Banana strip club on Route 1 in Peabody will become a class-action lawsuit. The suit was filed in Salem Superior Court and claims the club's policy requiring dancers to pay a fee violates state tip-sharing laws. In 2013, the Golden Banana settled a similar lawsuit that had been filed in 2009.

Dancers at the club are required to pay fees of $50 to $100 for each shift they work, then make the money back through tips. Arielle Philibotte, Lisa Minischiello and Gabrielle Rohde, the dancers who filed the most recent lawsuit, claim they were "strongly encouraged" to share their tips with bouncers, deejays and other employees at the club.

Last year, two former dancers at the Cabaret, another strip club on Route 1 in Peabody, filed a lawsuit claiming the club had misclassified them as independent contractors to avoid paying them hourly wages, overtime and benefits. The women in both cases, as well as others filed against strip clubs, are represented by attorney David Dishman.