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High-End D.C. Strip Club Sued
For Alleged Abusive Workplace
Washington, D.C.’s attorney general is suing a well-known strip club for allegedly creating an abusive work environment.
The lawsuit accuses the owners of the Cloakroom Gentlemen's Club of allowing sexual harassment, wage theft and mistreatment of employees for years. Employees who complained were threatened with retaliation, the lawsuit says.
“Employees have been fired for inquiring about their pay rate, insulted for requesting time off, and even put in physical danger, as managers will retaliate by refusing to call security when an employee is harassed or threatened by patrons, a common occurrence at the venue,” according to a D.C. attorney general’s statement.
One former manager is accused of trying to bargain for sexual favors in exchange for more time off and preferential work shifts.
“Cloakroom and its owners flagrantly disregard the most basic workplace protections and decencies, routinely subjecting female employees to degradation and abuse while deploying a variety of schemes to steal their pay,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement.
The lawsuit alleges violations of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, Minimum Wage Revision Act, Wage Payment and Collection Law, Consumer Protection Procedures Act, Sick and Safe Leave Act and Wage Transparency Act.
The Cloakroom’s Instagram page describes itself as “Washington D.C.'s #1 Luxury Entertainment Venue.” (https://www.instagram.com/cloakroom_dc/?hl=en) It says it was nominated as the “Best Overall Gentlemen’s Club in the USA 2019, 2022 & 2023” by E.D Publications.
In one scheme against employees, patrons were encouraged to use Cloakroom-branded fake currency called “Cloakbucks” but management pocketed 10 percent when the “Cloakbucks” were converted to cash, according to the lawsuit.
It also says Cloakroom forced entertainers to give 10 percent to 20 percent of their tips to other club employees.
Environmentalists Outraged at EPA
For Loosening Climate Regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency is closing down its environmental justice and civil rights office as part of a dramatic overhaul of the agency.
The EPA also canceled $20 billion in climate grants, announced plans to eliminate dozens of anti-pollution regulations and is closing several of its offices nationwide.
Outrage and threats of lawsuits by environmentalists are increasing daily in response.
The Trump administration’s closure of the environmental justice and civil rights office is its latest effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The office is charged with getting rid of the disproportionate effect of pollution on disadvantaged communities. Its main tool is lawsuits, which have met with only moderate success.
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Latest News
Trump Says New FBI Headquarters
Will Stay in Washington, D.C.
President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that a planned new multi-billion dollar FBI headquarters would stay in downtown Washington, D.C. is infuriating Maryland officials.
The Biden administration selected a Greenbelt, Md., site for a new FBI headquarters in 2023.
The choice of Greenbelt was made after a decade of discussion in Congress and site selection between competing suburban locations in Maryland and Virginia.
“They were going to build an FBI headquarters three hours away in Maryland, a liberal state,” Trump said during a presentation at the Justice Department. “But we’re going to stop it. We’re not going to let that happen.”
The Greenbelt site is about 10 miles from the District of Columbia.”
Power the Civil Rights Work of Our Time
Each day members of our community are experiencing wage theft, the effects of gentrification, discriminatory policing, collateral consequences, marginalization in schools, and barriers to public accommodations.
We fight alongside people facing the effects of gentrification like Amira Moore. Our work empowers the people and communities who need it most, “We can do more than we think. There’s a path to equity, we just have to step to it.” –Ms. Moore
For more than 50 years, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in our community. We deploy the best legal talent, we tackle the tough cases, we fight, and we win.
Our work is as important today as it has ever been. Through your support, you can play a role in creating justice for thousands of marginalized members of our community. Together, we will dismantle injustice and pursue lasting change.
Join us! Donate & subscribe: https://www.washlaw.org/support-us
Volunteer with us: https://www.washlaw.org/get-involved/
For more information, contact Gregg Kelley at Gregg_Kelley@washlaw.org
About Us
The Legal Forum is a nonprofit news service for the Washington area's legal community that also offers attorney job listings as well as amicus briefs and grant information for charitable organizations. If you have questions, please Contact Us
Letters to the Editor
D.C. in Brief
Amtrak Reaches $225 Million Settlement
To Take Control of D.C.’s Union Station
Amtrak won court approval last week to settle its eminent domain lawsuit by paying $225 million to a New York real estate developer, thereby allowing it to take control of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station.
Its first order of business is a massive redevelopment project.
Amtrak is taking over Union Station from a real estate firm whose revenue fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to complaints that it allowed the station to fall into disrepair.
Amtrak’s attempt to wrest control from Ben Ashkenazy led to the eminent domain lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Ashkenazy and his company, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., had paid $160 million to lease the station through 2084.
Amtrak initially tried to buy rights to the station for $250 million but Ashkenazy and his partners refused to sell. Criticism of Amtrak for next invoking the federal government’s eminent domain rights over the property was joined by some Republicans in Congress.
The land under Union Station is federally owned. Until the settlement last week, Amtrak controlled only the rails and gates.
The U.S. Department of Transportation continues to own the station. However, now the entire station will be leased to the nonprofit Union Station Redevelopment Corp., which then subleases it to Amtrak.
The shopping areas inside the station have been leased to private firms for decades. Amtrak will take control of the commercial space under the settlement last week.
The multi-billion dollar redevelopment plan calls for the station’s terminal layout to be reconfigured.
Perkins Coie Wins Injunction
Against Trump Executive Order
The law firm of Perkins Coie won a temporary restraining order last week to prevent the Trump administration from enforcing an executive order that a federal judge in Washington, D.C., described as retaliatory.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell agreed Perkins Coie presented valid claims of its First Amendment and due process rights.
“This is viewpoint discrimination plain and simple,” she wrote about President Donald Trump’s order removing Perkins Coie attorneys’ security clearances and access to federal buildings. “I’m sure many in the legal profession are watching in horror at what’s going on here.”
Trump also ordered federal agencies to stop doing business with the prestigious law firm’s clients.
Perkins Coie said the order would mean they would be unlikely to be able to continue representing government contractors who make up some of the most profitable parts of their business.
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Legal Briefs
We Could Use Your Help
Thousands of DC residents need a lawyer, but can’t afford one. They could be illegally evicted from their homes, lose custody of their children, experience domestic violence, and more, all because they lack legal representation.
You could make a difference. By making a donation to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, you will provide free, high-quality, zealous legal representation to low-income DC residents.
Your support could prevent homelessness, domestic violence, hunger, or family separation. In fact, if just 10 people who see this ad give $28 to Legal Aid, it will be enough to staff an experienced attorney at the courthouse for a day.
That way, DC residents like Keith King (pictured above) can get the legal representation they need to win their cases. As Mr. King put it, if it wasn’t for his Legal Aid lawyer, “I would have been homeless again.”
Here is the link to the Legal Aid website for donations: https://www.legalaiddc.org/donate-to-legal-aid/
For more information, contact Rob Pergament at Legal Aid at rpergament@legalaiddc.org