According to plaintiff's attorney Greg Walston, this hourly minimum (derived from the rate at the worker-owned and operated Lusty Lady), is meant to protect dancers from having to resort to prostitution or face going home without much to show for their work. According to the journal, Deja Vu threatened a countersuit based on the allegations of hooking at their clubs:

A lawyer who defended some of the clubs in the lawsuit said his clients did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, and he denied the claims of prostitution.

"It's a ridiculous allegation," said Douglas Melton of Long & Levit LLP. "We deny there was any illegal activity going on in the clubs we represented."

Walston, who had filed detailed reports in court from police officers, private investigators and others about offers for sexual acts, said, "The record speaks for itself."

Walston argued that he was doing the job that the D.A.'s office should have been doing, and even used police reports from sting operations at the New Century and Market Street to bolster his case. While we wait for the Journal to start posting their articles online so we can approriately link to awesome scoops like this, you can find us at SF Red Book, a site devoted to the local sex worker scene which was quoted to hilarious effect in an article sidebar.

Photo by Adam Paul.