Special Legal Notice to Former Club 907 Employees
On August 7, 2013, a Los Angeles judge gave preliminary approval to a $1.1 million settlement in a class action suit brought by dancers formerly employed by Club 907.
In late 2010, the LAPD conducted two raids at Club 907, a hostess or "taxi-dancing" club in downtown Los Angeles, forcing the club to close. Subsequent interviews with women employed by Club 907 to dance with the club's customers exposed various allegations of illegal employment practices. Former Club 907 employees Jessica Damaris Hernandez and Rosario Idalia Martinez filed a class action lawsuit against Club 907 on June 6, 2011, alleging that the Club failed to pay its dancers for all hours worked, failed to pay overtime, failed to provide meal breaks or rest breaks, illegally took money out of dancers' paychecks, failed to keep accurate records of the hours dancers worked, and failed to provide enough seats and a suitable place to eat. Their lawsuit sought damages for these and other alleged practices, including violating the minimum wage and overtime laws by paying women only for the minutes men elected to dance with them rather than for all of their hours worked. The lawsuit also claimed that Club 907 was an abusive and hostile work environment in which sexual harassment by managers and customers was rampant and in which dancers were videotaped when they undressed in Club 907's locker room.
After more than two years of litigation, a settlement of $1,116,667 was reached on behalf of all women who worked at Club 907 as hostess dancers at any time between December 5, 2006 and December 5, 2010. On September 3, 2013, class members were mailed a notice informing them of the settlement and providing them with forms to fill out in order to receive money from the settlement. In her order, Judge Johnson also appointed CPT Group as the Claims Administrator to oversee distribution of the settlement.
The two law firms of Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld and Traber & Voorhees collaborated in bringing the suit on behalf of the Club 907 dancers.
The case is Hernandez v. Goliath.
For additional information, former Club 907 dancers may call the Claims Administrator at 1-877-302-2673 or review various case documents at http://www.club907settlement.com. They may also contact Bert Voorhees or Rebecca Peterson-Fisher of Traber & Voorhees or Monica Guizar of Weinberg, Roger and Rosenfeld.