In a very well-written two part series, a Massachusetts stripper writing under the pen name “Pussy Per Se” explains a day in the life of a stripper and how a recent Massachusetts court decision classifying a stripper as an employee rather than an independent contractor has substantially harmed MA strippers ability to earn income. The author was a spousal-abuse and rape crisis counselor at a women’s shelter when she started stripping on the side. The article discusses the ramifications of a lawsuit filed by a stripper named Lucienne Chaves against a strip club where she performed called King Arthur’s Lounge. The judge ruled that the stripper was an employee, not an independent contractor. Ms. Per Se says:
“The legislature of Massachusetts, attorney general Martha Coakley, and some savvy lawyers have now put me out of business. It’s not that they don’t like what I do for a living — dancing naked on a stage and giving private dances in a back room. I can keep doing that. What they don’t like is that I did all this as an independent contractor. That I was my own boss. Massachusetts much prefers that I work for somebody else. This came about because of a single verdict against a strip club in Chelsea, Mass., and it affects not only every stripper in the state, but could result in putting many small independent contractors, from painters to writers, out of business.”
Now the lawyers who represented Lucienne Chaves are filing class action lawsuits and going after Massachusetts strip clubs and forcing the clubs to make all their strippers employees. As employees, the strippers are paid $2.63 per hour. Ms. Per Se says that the bottom line now for most Massachusetts strippers is that they will make less money and the clubs will control their work experience.
See “Stripped by Massachusetts: Part 1” and “Stripped by Massachusetts: Part 2 – In exchange for your freedom: $2.63.”
Even though I am not from Massachusetts nor a stripper, but a Denver contract attorney and a regular employee, I think it is preposterous for a stripper to become a employee rather than just an independent contractor. I just hope this won’t turn out for everyone to suffer by this.
This supposed strippers article is full of lies. She is probably some club owners play-thing doing him another kind of “favor”. What is wrong with paying a stripper $2.63 an hr ? The stripper still gets to keep all her tips. Miss Pussy also neglects to point out the $45-$100 per night the stripper no longer has to pay the slimy club owners. NOT having to pay those fees adds another 10-20k or more to the strippers yearly income. Not to mention unemployment and work. comp. benefits. I think the article is biased an unfairly paints the wrong picture for those not in the Industry.Suggesting that strippers rights are being taken away by finally giving them some is an out and out lie.