Hannah Meyer, Jordan Cannon, and Jessica Allen worked as dancers at Nikita's Playroom, an adult entertainment club in Wellford, South Carolina, from 2018 through early 2026. The complaint filed in federal court alleges the club's owners, Timothy and Lanie Treadwell, maintained "near total control" over entertainers through "formal and informal rules and policies" while classifying them as independent contractors. The dancers seek unpaid wages, overtime compensation, and damages under both federal and state labor laws for themselves and other similarly situated workers.
According to the 16-page complaint, defendants "controlled nearly all aspects of Entertainers' work" including setting mandatory fees for customer services, establishing daily dance orders, and requiring workers to arrive an hour early and stay after closing to clean. The club mandated that dancers charge $40 for topless dances, $60 for nude dances, and $200 for private room sessions, while prohibiting them from accepting tips except for cash received on stage. Despite this control, the complaint alleges, "Defendants intentionally misclassified Entertainers as independent contractors to avoid paying Entertainers legally mandated minimum and overtime wages."
The dancers describe a fee structure that could eliminate their earnings entirely, with mandatory "house fees" ranging from $40 to $125 per shift, plus required "tips" of $10 to the DJ and $20 to attendants. Additional fines included "$50 for chewing gum, $50 for looking at a phone, $50 for eating on shift" and "$200 for missing a shift." The complaint states that "as a result of the mandatory fees, fines, and tip-outs, Entertainers sometimes received little to no actual compensation from Defendants despite hours of work."
The case was filed as both a Fair Labor Standards Act collective action, allowing other dancers to opt in, and a South Carolina state law class action under Rule 23. The plaintiffs worked at the club for varying periods: Meyer from mid-2021 to November 2024, Cannon from May 2018 to January 2026, and Allen from May 2021 to November 2024 with two brief gaps. The complaint alleges that "Entertainers regularly worked over 40 hours in a week" and that defendants had "actual knowledge of all hours worked by Entertainers through sign-in or tip-in sheets, house fee payment records, DJ records, and/or managers supervising Entertainers' work duties."
The defendants' alleged control extended beyond the club's operations, with the complaint stating that workers were "not permitted to leave Nikita's until released by Defendants" and were required to "perform at off-site private events for little to no compensation." The suit also alleges that club attendants, rather than the dancers themselves, collected service fees from customers, allowing attendants to "frequently retained tips intended for Entertainers without customers' knowledge."
The lawsuit seeks collective action certification under the FLSA for minimum wage and overtime violations, plus class certification under Rule 23 for state law claims involving unauthorized wage deductions. The case raises common issues in the adult entertainment industry, where clubs frequently classify dancers as independent contractors despite exercising significant control over their work conditions and compensation structures.
Beyond monetary damages, the plaintiffs request declaratory judgment that defendants "willfully and in bad faith violated" federal and state wage laws, plus injunctive relief requiring policy changes to comply with labor statutes. Under South Carolina's Payment of Wages Act, successful plaintiffs could recover treble damages for unpaid wages, while federal law provides for liquidated damages equal to unpaid minimum wage and overtime compensation.