A lapdancer has won the right to take her former employer to an employment tribunal after a landmark ruling declared she was not self-employed.
Nadine Quashie was sacked from Stringfellows nightclub for drug dealing in 2008, a claim she has always denied. Up until the ruling she could not bring the company to an employment tribunal because she was deemed to be self-employed.
Thanks to His Honour Judge McMullen’s ruling, which stated she was employed by Stringfellows as they charged her a commission to dance, and structured the times when she had to perform, Ms Quashie can now bring an unfair dismissal claim for compensation against the company.
Ms Quashie, 29, had been a woman’s officer at Thames University’s student union before she started lapdancing. At Stringfellows she earned £1,265 per night for dancing topless on stage, and naked when giving a private dance.
At an earlier Central London Employment Tribunal she had stated that she gave a quarter of her earnings to Stringfellows as commission.
At the tribunal she also claimed she had to perform free of charge on the hour whenever the song Girls, Girls, Girls, by Motley Crue was played.
In 2008 Ms Quashie was sacked over allegations of drug dealing, which she has always denied.
The ruling was based on the strict structure of her employment with Stringfellows which deems her employed by the company. As she had been employed for over twelve months she was entitled to claim unfair dismissal compensation.
Stringfellows denied she had to perform free of charge.
A tribunal panel will make a decision on her claim at a later date.
