A former employee of a North Hills strip club is suing the establishment in a dispute over tips.
Imani Singleton, identified in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit as a onetime “entertainer” at Synn Gentlemen’s Club, brought her case under the state’s Private Attorneys General Act, which authorizes allegedly aggrieved employees to file lawsuits to recover civil penalties on behalf of themselves, other employees and the state for purported Labor Code violations.
“This matter arises out of defendants’ illegal scheme requiring dancers at their exotic club to share tips with management,” according to the complaint.
The suit seeks civil penalties, including the value of allegedly stolen tips, as well as attorneys’ fees. A club representative could not be reached for comment on the suit brought Thursday.
Singleton worked at the Sepulveda Boulevard establishment from July 2022 to January of this year, according to the suit, which further states that during her employment, management intentionally took tips from the plaintiff and other employees.
The club “instituted a scheduling system which punished employees who paid no tips or less in tips to management than other employees, allowing management to “perceivably retaliate against any employees who refused to participate in the management tipping scheme,” according to the suit.
The club required Singleton and other employees to “tip out” management-level personnel at the end of every night they worked and they would be placed on less desirable shifts if they refused to do so or shared less of their tips, the suit alleges.