By Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — Dozens of strippers will be allowed to advance a $5 million class action lawsuit against the corporation that owns Rick's Cabaret, a Midtown strip club, a Manhattan federal judge ruled in a decision made public Wednesday.
The judge said the group of more than 50 strippers have proved that the strip club's international corporation was their legal employer — not the local Rick's Cabaret — allowing the workers to chase compensation from the deeper pockets of the club's parent company, Ricks' Cabaret International, the New York Post reported.
The group of pole-dancing plaintiffs are reportedly alleging that they were cheated out of money they earned in "dance dollars," a fake currency redeemable in lap dances.
While working at the West 33rd Street club, they purportedly received only $18 of the $24 value of the lap dance tickets, according to the Post's report.
Rick's Cabaret International owns several of strip clubs and over 20 clubs in total nation-wide, according to the company's website.