DC’s Office of the Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Cloakroom, a “luxury” adult entertainment venue in Mount Vernon Triangle, for allegedly violating a long list of civil rights, employment, and consumer protection laws. The suit claims that owners Antonios Cavasilios and Carlos Horcasitas created a toxic work environment where demeaning sexual comments, unwanted physical advances, and retaliation persisted for years. They also allegedly stole tips and wages from employees and threatened their safety and jobs if they complained.
“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,” a Cloakroom representative says in an email statement.
The lawsuit alleges that Cavasilios, who oversees day-to-day operations, and other managers regularly called female employees names like “slut,” “whore,” and “dumb bitch” in addition to other lewd and sexist comments about their bodies and weight. Female entertainers also allege persistent unwanted touching and physical harassment from their bosses. The lawsuit claims that on at least one occasion, Cavasilios cornered an employee on the rooftop, where there are no cameras, then sexually assaulted her with unwanted kissing and forced digital penetration, which left her traumatized. Managers have also allegedly hired entertainers—or only allowed them to take leave or make schedule changes—in exchange for sex acts. And some employees have allegedly been fired for rejecting sexual advances.
In particular, the lawsuit alleges that managers have preyed on younger and less experienced entertainers, many of whom are teens. The alleged harassment from higher-ups gave permission for other male employees and patrons to copy their behavior, according to employees cited in the suit.
In addition to an environment that left female employees with “stress, anxiety, and depression,” the lawsuit says, Cloakroom also allegedly stole their tips. Up until recently, Cloakroom encouraged patrons to use a fake currency called “Cloakbucks” to tip entertainers, servers, and bartenders. But when employees cashed out the fake dollars for real ones, the business would deduct 10 percent for the house. This scheme resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in stolen tips, according to the Office of the Attorney General. The practice also deceived patrons who had no reason not to believe the full tip wasn’t going to the employees. Cloakroom discontinued using “Cloackbucks” during the Attorney General’s investigation.
Cloakroom also allegedly forced entertainers to illegally give 10 to 20 percent of their tips to other club employees, including DJs and security. If an entertainer refused to give tips to a security guard or even complained about it, the security guards would allegedly refuse to intervene if the entertainer was accosted or assaulted by a patron. They also would allegedly refuse to walk the entertainer to her car at the end of the night, risking her safety. Meanwhile, some DJs would retaliate against not getting a share of tips by allegedly playing “unappealing and hard-to-dance-to” music, limiting the entertainer’s ability to earn tips.
Cloakroom also allegedly stole commissions from private dances. The club and the entertainer used to split the cost for fully nude dances in private VIP rooms 50-50, but Cloakroom expanded its cut to 60 percent in the wake of the pandemic when it suffered financially. VIP managers would demand an additional piece of entertainers’ commissions and allegedly tried to take a larger cut from those they didn’t like or thought were vulnerable or gullible. If entertainers refused to tip out the VIP managers or didn’t tip them enough, the managers would allegedly insult them, discourage patrons away from them, or negotiate lower rates for future dances. Other times, they allegedly refused or delayed calling security if the entertainer was threatened, inappropriately touched, or attacked in a private room. The business has also fired employees who complained about commissions and the toxic work environment, the suit says.
The allegations go on: Entertainers were told to clock out for the night but then forced to stay at the club unpaid for up to two hours during nightly debrief meetings. Multiple employees, including barbacks and hosts, were allegedly not paid the correct overtime rates. And Cloakroom failed to provide employees with any sick leave for years. One manager was allegedly notorious for demanding sexual favors for unpaid 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,” said Attorney General Brian Schwalb in a written statement.
His office is seeking back wages, damages, and other fees on behalf of the workers, in addition to other penalties.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
