King of Diamonds Miami Owes Dancers $15 Million in Back Pay (1)

King of Diamonds Miami, famous for its celebrity clientele, and its owner must pay more than $15.5 million in unpaid wages to 27 exotic dancers who convinced a jury that they were intentionally misclassified as independent contractors under Florida law, according to state court filings.

The dancers will each receive individual back-pay awards, which range from $20,000 to $266,000, plus the same amount in liquidated damages, according to the order entered Thursday by Judge William Thomas of the Florida Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County.

The judgment is likely the highest ever awarded in an exotic-dancer misclassification case that didn’t result ...