Kesley v. Entertainment U.S.A. Inc.

67 F. Supp. 3d 1061, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174835, 2014 WL 7178378
CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedDecember 17, 2014
DocketNo. CV-14-01105-PHX-NVW
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 67 F. Supp. 3d 1061 (Kesley v. Entertainment U.S.A. Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kesley v. Entertainment U.S.A. Inc., 67 F. Supp. 3d 1061, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174835, 2014 WL 7178378 (D. Ariz. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

NEIL V. WAKE, District Judge.

Before the Court are Plaintiffs Amended Motion for Conditional Certification and Court-Supervised Notice of Pending Collective Action (Doc. 71), Defendants’ Brief in Opposition (Doc. 73) and the Reply (Doc. 84). For the reasons that follow, the Motion will be granted in part and denied in part.

[1063]*1063I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Allyson Kesley filed this action in May 2014, seeking damages, on behalf of herself and a group of similarly situated exotic dancers, for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), the Arizona Minimum Wage Act and the Arizona Wage Law. On November 21, 2014, the Court granted Kesley’s Motion for Leave to File Second Amended Collective and Class Action Complaint (Doc. 67). In addition to dropping two of the original named Defendants, the Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 74) substitutes Holly Brooke and La’Shaunta Cooper as the class representatives (“Plaintiffs”). Kes-ley, as well as Kim Jones and Deyonna Wallace, who filed consent forms in October 2014, are listed as opt-in plaintiffs (“Opt-in Plaintiffs”).

Plaintiffs seek damages from one individual and six corporate Defendants: (1) Entertainment USA, Inc. of Cleveland d/b/a Christie’s Cabaret, “a foreign for-profit corporation doing business in Cleveland, Ohio,” (2) J.L. Spoons, Inc., “a foreign for-profit corporation doing business in Brunswick, Ohio,” (3) Christie’s Cabaret of Glendale, LLC, “a domestic for-profit company doing business in Glendale, Arizona,” (4) Sunset Entertainment, Inc.(FN), “a foreign for-profit company doing business in Phoenix, Arizona,” (5) Out West Ventures, Inc., “a domestic for-profit company doing business in Guadalupe, Arizona and Tempe, Arizona,” (6) Giovani Caran-dola, Ltd., “a foreign for-profit company doing business in Greensboro, North Carolina,” and (7) Steve C. Cooper, “an individual who resides, in Tennessee” and “is ah owner of the corporate Defendants.” Doc. 74 at 4-5. According to the Second Amended Complaint, Defendants operate adult entertainment clubs in Greensboro, North Carolina, three Ohio towns — Brunswick, Canton and Cleveland — and three Arizona cities — Phoenix, Tempe and Glendale — all under the name of “Christie’s Cabaret.” Id. at 9. Plaintiffs allege, “[u]pon information and belief,” that “the Defendants are affiliated corporate entities under common ownership and control and are related organizations through, for example, common membership, governing, bodies, trustees, and/or officers and benefit plans.” Id. at 5.

Plaintiffs Brooke and Cooper allege they were previously employed as exotic dancers at Defendants’ clubs, in Phoenix and Tempe, respectively. Id. at 10; Doc. 71-4 at 1; Doc. 71-5 at 1. Opt-in Plaintiffs also allegedly worked for Defendants as exotic dancers. Doc. 74 at 10. Defendants concede that Jones at one time worked at the Phoenix club, Doc. 73 at 7, where Kesley claims she, too, was formerly employed, Doc. 71-3 at 1. But neither the Second Amended Complaint nor any declarations submitted to the Court make clear where Wallace danced.

The Second Amended Complaint alleges that Plaintiffs had to pay Defendants a “house fee” in order to be allowed to perform on any given shift. Doc. 74 at 10. When they did perform, Plaintiffs allege they received no wages directly from Defendants and instead had to rely exclusively on tips from Defendants’ customers. Id. Plaintiffs were allegedly • forced to share those tips with “other non-service employees who do not customarily receive tips, including the ‘house mom,’ disc jockeys, and the bouncers.” Id. To enforce this arrangement, Defendants sold customers “Christie’s Cabaret Certificates,” which patrons could use to purchase dances from Plaintiffs. Id. Plaintiffs would return these certificates to Defendants, who would allegedly remit to Plaintiffs a cash sum less than the full value of the certificates; the cut retained by Defendants “grossly exeeed[ed] the fee paid by the club as a merchant fee to the credit card companies.” Id. at 10-11. Taken [1064]*1064together, Plaintiffs allege, these practices pushed their total compensation well below both the federal and state minimum wages. ■In addition, Plaintiffs were often required to work more than 40 hours in a week but were not compensated at one-and-a-half times their usual salary for those extra hours. Id. at 12. According to Plaintiffs, Defendants justified these alleged willful violations of federal law by classifying Plaintiffs as independent contractors rather than employees. Id.; see also Pfohl v. Farmers Ins. Grp., No. CV 03-3080 DT (RCx), 2004 WL 554834, at *3, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6447, at *11 (C.D.Cal. Mar. 5, 2004) (“Independent contractors are not covered by the FLSA; that is, there must be an employer-employee relationship for liability to accrue for alleged unpaid overtime.” (citation omitted)). Defendants admit in their Answer to the Second Amended Complaint that “dance performers do not receive either regular or time-and-a-half wages, or any other compensation from them,” but “deny, in any way, that they have violated the FLSA.” Doc. 83 at 9.

Plaintiffs filed the instant Motion on November 4, 2014, seeking certification under the FLSA of a class defined as “[a]ll current and former exotic dancers who worked at any of the seven Christie’s Cabarets at any time during the three year period before the granting of this Motion up to the present.” Doc. 71 at 4. The putative collective seeks wages and overtime compensation allegedly denied as a result of Defendants’ willful FLSA violations. Although Plaintiffs have also alleged violations of Arizona law, they do not at this time seek certification of a Rule 23 class action on those claims. Id. at 3 n. 3.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Fair Labor Standards Act

“The FLSA provides that a covered employer shall not employ any employee ‘for a workweek longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.’ ” Wood v. TriVita, Inc., No. CV-08-0765-PHX-SRB, 2009 WL 2046048, at *2, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64585, at *3-4 (D.Ariz. Jan. 22, 2009) (quoting 29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1)). The law also mandates that “[ejvery employer shall pay to each of his employees who in any workweek is engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or is employed in an enterprise engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, wages” that are “not less than” specified statutory rates. 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1). “Any employer who violates the provisions of [§ 206 or § 207] shall be liable to the employee or employees affected in the amount of their unpaid minimum wages, or their unpaid overtime compensation, as the case may be, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages.” Id. § 216(b). An action to recover these damages “may be maintained against any employer ... in any Federal' or State court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more employees for and in behalf of himself or themselves and other employees similarly situated.” Id. “The FLSA requires class members who are not named in the complaint to affirmatively opt in to the class by filing a written consent with the Court.”

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67 F. Supp. 3d 1061, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 174835, 2014 WL 7178378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kesley-v-entertainment-usa-inc-azd-2014.