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Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
DC strip club sued for ‘routine' sexual harassment, wage theft, OAG says
WASHINGTON () — The owners of Cloakroom, a strip club in downtown D.C., are in hot water after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb announced a lawsuit against them Tuesday, alleging they have created a hostile and exploitative work environment for female employees. Cloakroom, located in the heart of Mount Vernon Triangle in Northwest, is owned by Antonios Cavasilios and Carlos Horcasitas and employs dozens of people – most of whom are women. In Tuesday's announcement, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said that for years, Cavasilios and Horcasitas have maintained a workplace where female employees are 'routinely' subjected to sexual harassment, inappropriate touching, insults and physical assault. Elderly woman conned out of over $130,000, Prince William County police say The OAG says that Cloakroom managers and employees, including Cavasilios, regularly sexually harass female employees by calling them demeaning, sexist names and touching them inappropriately. 'Owners and managers wield their hiring, firing, and scheduling power to maintain a coercive, exploitative workplace, preying on younger and less experienced workers in particular,' said the OAG, in part. 'On at least one occasion, Cavasilios himself sexually assaulted a club employee. None of the club's male employees experience this type of mistreatment and abuse.' In addition, the complaint alleges that club management has stolen 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' in tips and wages from employees, failed to pay for overtime and all hours worked, failed to provide paid sick leave and retaliated against workers who spoke out. In total, the OAG says the Cloakroom violated several D.C. laws, including the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, Minimum Wage Revision Act, Wage Payment and Collection Law, Consumer Protection Procedures Act, Sick and Safe Leave Act and Wage Transparency Act. 2025.03.11 DC v Cloakroom Complaint – FINALDownload Schwalb said one way the club's owners have stolen wages is through 'Cloakbucks,' a Cloakroom-branded fake currency that management encouraged customers to use to tip. When the bucks were converted to real cash, the owners allegedly pocketed 10% of the earnings. When the OAG began investigating the club, the bucks were discontinued. Cherry blossom bloom watch: Cherry trees along Tidal Basin reach stage one of six The document also alleges that Cloakroom and its owners steal wages by forcing entertainers to pay club managers 10-20% of their earned commission when they perform in private rooms, even though they are promised a fixed percentage commission, typically 40% of the amount charged to the customer. In a statement sent to DC News Now, a Cloakroom representative said, 'We are reviewing the allegations of the District's lawsuit. We look forward to proving in court that we run an upstanding District business providing top-notch service to our customers and treat our employees with professionalism and dignity.' Schwalb added that the lawsuit aims to bring the business into compliance with the District's civil rights, employment and consumer protection laws and seek damages for employees who were abused and denied tips, wages and paid sick leave. 'Cloakroom and its owners flagrantly disregard the most basic workplace protections and decencies, routinely subjecting female employees to degradation and abuse while deploying a variety of schemes to steal their pay. As the District's independent Attorney General, we will put an end to this type of exploitative combination of sexual harassment and wage theft,' said Schwalb. 'My office will always fight for the dignity, safety, and livelihood of District workers.' The OAG asks former or current Cloakroom employees who have experienced or witnessed illegal conduct to call (202) 724-7730 or email workers@ or . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tipsy Bean cafe owner accused of keeping servers' tips. What she said happened
The owner of Tipsy Bean Cafe, 2425 Peach St., was the subject of a firestorm of social media criticism Jan. 19 when it was claimed on that she was keeping electronic tips intended for servers. Owner Gisele Littrell got so much negative feedback that she produced a Facebook Live video explaining that she has been keeping server tips left electronically since 2022. She said in the video that she has used the funds to pay more than the prevailing wage. "Everything I did was in the best interest of my employees and in accordance with my understanding of the law," Littrell said Wednesday. "I pooled the electronic tips to pay higher, consistent wages, which my employees voted for, as opposed to lower base wages and splitting tips by shifts. I did not financially benefit from this policy." Customers who left electronic tips were not informed of the policy for the house to take the tips. In a post Jan. 20 on Facebook, which has since been deleted, Littrell apologized for misunderstanding the law and changing the job descriptions for servers that she said makes them tip-eligible and that she would pay employees electronic tips retroactively to August of 2022. "I am currently working with the state to review if our records complied with the law," Littrell said later. "I am working with an employment attorney and have gained a great deal more clarity in regards to wage and handbook policy guidelines. "I have a new tip pooling and wage policy, as well as, job titles and descriptions currently in place," she said. "I have made mistakes and am doing everything in my power to set things right." Tipsy Bean has won best coffee shop in a Best of Erie contest four times in a row, starting in 2021. It displays work for sale by local artists and hosts events including live music and speakers. The accusation that Littrell kept the tips surfaced on Reddit about three weeks ago, and hundreds of comments and accusations flew around for several days, making it onto the coffee shop's Facebook site, where they were soon deleted. With the intention of clarifying her position, Littrell live streamed a video on Facebook Live that was subsequently uploaded to YouTube. Littrell said in the video that she considered all Tipsy Bean employees to be "shift leaders," who, as managers, would not be eligible for tips of any kind. She allowed servers to keep the tips left in cash. Pennsylvania law states: "All tips and gratuities paid by credit card or other non-cash method of payment are the property of the employee receiving them. "Employers are prohibited from deducting any credit card or other payment processing fees from employees' tips." More: Erie's cup overflows with independent coffee shops. Find them here. When asked if Littrell broke the law, Danielle L. Woods, press secretary for the state's Department of Labor & Industry responded: "Neither the Wage Payment and Collection Law nor the Minimum Wage Act (both enforced by L&I) makes a distinction between electronic and cash tips for purposes of compliance," Woods wrote. "Tips, with very few exceptions, are considered to be the property of the employee. More information on Pennsylvania's regulations related to the minimum wage and tipped workers can be found" (on the website). Woods said if anyone had filed a complaint, she could not address it publicly. "Whether a complaint has been filed or an investigation has been commenced is confidential," Woods said. "Accordingly, the Department of Labor & Industry cannot offer comment." She said if a complaint were made and found to be true, and the state and owner came to an agreement, that would be public record. More: In what used to be bank drive-through lanes, there could soon be a tiny coffee shop "If a labor law violation is determined to have occurred, an administrative order or signed settlement agreement reflecting the violation and penalty would be publicly available," Woods said in an email Jan. 24. "At this time, L&I has not issued violations or entered into a signed settlement agreement with Tipsy Bean." She said employees who believe they were deprived of their tip income can file a confidential complaint, and the department takes those complaints seriously. "Any Pennsylvanian who believes they have experienced a violation of Pennsylvania's labor laws is encouraged to submit a complaint with the Department's Bureau of Labor Law Compliance online," she wrote. "The Department investigates all complaints." In a recent visit to the coffee shop, a reporter found the debit card machine did not offer a way to tip electronically as it did on previous visits. There was a mug for cash tips sitting on the counter near the point of sale. "We had to temporarily turn off tipping to transition to the new wage and tip policies," Littrell said. "The tipping option is currently active again." Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@ Find her weekly newsletter at This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Tipsy Bean cafe tip-collecting allegations addressed by owner
