Exotic Dancers’ Worker Status Decided Too Early in Wage Suit (1)

A wage and hour suit brought by a group of Arizona exotic dancers against their club’s owners got reinstated by the Ninth Circuit Aug. 16 after the appeals court said it was dismissed too soon.

The trial court erred when it analyzed the dancers’ employment status while deciding Lé Girls Cabaret’s motion to dismiss, Judge A. Wallace Tashima said for the court. That inquiry goes to the central merits of the dispute and should be resolved by a fact finder at the summary judgment stage or at trial, he said.

Motions to dismiss are usually the first response to a ...