Exotic dancers at the Gold Club aren't shy about much, but there are some things even they don't bare in public. That would be their real names.
As the former bosses of the San Francisco establishment try to fend off a wage-and-hour class action, they're attempting to turn the dancers' penchant for privacy into a defense advantage. Defense counsel Edi Thomas tried to persuade a San Francisco Superior Court judge last week that certifying a class in the case would wind up trampling on many dancers' privacy rights.
Many dancers are hard to contact -- often by design -- and moving ahead with a class action they don't know about would violate their right to due process, Thomas argued. Also, contacting them about the suit could compromise their privacy.
Though Judge James Warren went ahead and certified the class anyway, he seemed concerned about some of Thomas' points. And the defense lawyer, a solo with offices in Michigan and San Diego, said she expected to resurrect them.
"Because we think it's such an important issue, that will be raised again," Thomas said Thursday. "Dancers value their privacy, and I think it should be protected." The three class representatives, she's noted, filed their case under stage names.