Denver city officials for the first time issued subpoenas in an attempt to recover wages for dancers at a trio of strip clubs.
Denver City Council in April voted unanimously to give Denver Labor subpoena power to use during wage-theft investigations.
“It’s a win for Denver’s workers that we had this process in place in time,” Denver Auditor Timothy M. O’Brien said in a Tuesday news release. “This is the first time we are using this subpoena power and without it we would be unable to conduct our investigation into whether dancers’ rights are being violated.”
City labor investigators have been working to determine whether PT’s Showclub, Diamond Cabaret and PT’s Centerfold misclassify their dancers as non-employees to avoid paying them minimum wage, overtime, paid sick leave and all of their earned tips.
The city issued subpoenas for these clubs after the businesses failed to produce records related to contracts, contact information and dancers’ payments, the news release stated.
The strip clubs have until Sept. 24 to fully respond. If they don’t, they will face fines of up to $1,000 per day.
The investigation, city officials said, remains ongoing.
A representative with PT’s Centerfold declined to comment on the subpoena. PT’s Showclub and Diamond Cabaret could not be reached for comment.
The new subpoena power comes amid years of effort at the city and state level to crack down on wage theft and misclassification.
Before the April ordinance, the Denver auditor’s office could only issue fines to companies that did not hand over requested documents in wage theft investigations. Businesses could pay the fines rather than comply with the investigation.
The law change also empowered the auditor’s office to charge 12% interest on unpaid wages as well as to levy fines up to $25,000 per violation. Denver Labor can collect up to 300% of unpaid wages as civil damages to compensate workers.
In 2023, Denver recovered more than $2 million in unpaid wages — nearly double the amount recovered the year prior.
“Wage theft is devastating,” Councilmember Sarah Parady, one of the bill sponsors, said in April. “What we need is for our enforcement agency to be empowered to get whatever information is needed to get to the truth.”
Another ordinance, passed by the City Council in 2023, allowed complaints to go straight to the auditor, as opposed to the court, helping people to get paid faster.
The law also provides for upstream liability — meaning a general contractor on a construction project would be liable for wages and penalties if their subcontractor fails to pay its employees.
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