In a significant legal move, a class and collective action complaint has been filed against a prominent gentlemen's club for alleged violations of wage payment rights. Ingrid Alatorre, on behalf of herself and over one hundred similarly situated individuals, filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on February 14, 2025, against AEG Ventures, LLC, doing business as The Atlantis Gentlemen’s Club.
The lawsuit accuses AEG Ventures of misclassifying exotic dancers as non-employee contractors and failing to pay them any wages during their employment at The Atlantis Gentlemen’s Club in Ford Heights, Illinois. According to the complaint, this misclassification led to several violations under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (IMWL), and the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA). "Defendant employed Plaintiff Ingrid Alatorre and more than One Hundred similarly situated individuals to work as exotic dancers," states the filing. It further alleges that these dancers were not paid minimum wages or any wages at all for their hours worked. Instead, they relied solely on tips from customers while also being subjected to deductions from these earnings by management.
The plaintiff claims that AEG Ventures enforced policies that required dancers to pay portions of their earned tips to managers and other staff members as well as mandatory fees labeled as "house fees" per shift. These practices are said to violate both federal and state labor laws designed to protect workers' rights to fair compensation. The complaint highlights that these actions were carried out willfully by AEG Ventures' management without regard for legal obligations under FLSA, IMWL, and IWPCA.
Alatorre seeks various forms of relief from the court including judgment against AEG Ventures for unpaid wages, reimbursement of unlawfully deducted amounts from tips, statutory liquidated damages, interest, attorney's fees, and costs. The case aims to secure justice not only for Alatorre but also for all affected class members who worked under similar conditions at The Atlantis Gentlemen’s Club.
Representing Alatorre in this legal battle are attorneys M. Nieves Bolanos from Hawks Quindel S.C., based in Chicago, Illinois, and Gregg C. Greenberg from Zipin, Amster & Greenberg LLC in Silver Spring, Maryland. The case is presided over by judges at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois under Case No.: 25-cv-01611.