King Of Diamonds To Shell Out $375K To Settle Stripper Suit

Pole Dancers Sued KOD For Making Them Work Just For Tips

The former owners of a Miami mammary mecca catering to hip-hop’s elite has agreed to pay $375,000 to pole dancers who said they weren’t paid and were forced to shell out cash to perform there.

Top brass at Fly Low, Inc. and Galardi South Enterprises, the companies that owned King Of Diamonds Gentlemen’s Club, agreed to settle the women’s class action lawsuit and pay their lawyer’s fees, BOSSIP has learned.

Sixteen dancers sued the infamous jiggle joint last year, claiming in court papers that KOD violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not paying them, charging them hundreds in “house fees” and forcing them to kick back tips to club staff.

Akinyele Adams, the one time rapper known for his 1996 sing, “Put It In Your Mouth,” was a manager at the club and was named as one of the defendants in the suit. He has since filed for bankruptcy.

Under the settlement, the women will get just 17 percent of the amount they said they were owed, between $43 and $17,000 for back pay and reimbursement for illegal kickbacks, with $150,000 going to lawyer fees. But court docs said this pennies on the dollar deal was best for both the dancers and the club owners.

“In reaching this agreement, plaintiffs acknowledge and appreciate the expense and length of continued proceedings necessary to prosecute this matter through trial and appeals, have taken into account the uncertain outcome and risk of continued litigation, as well as the difficulties, delays and risks of collection inherent in such litigation,” the settlement states. “The parties believe that this agreement confers substantial benefits upon the plaintiffs.”

The terms went into effect Sept. 1.

The settlement also absolves Galardi South Enterprises and Fly Low Inc. of any wrongdoing. We’ve reached out to lawyers for both companies for comment. A woman who answered the phone at King Of Diamonds said the defendants sold the club a few months after the dancers sued them.

Although as part of the settlement the dancers also agreed not to talk to the media about the case, one of the women told BOSSIP in January that paying club management for the right to rock the pole was the norm.

“Some girls have paid as high as $750 to work,” one of the women in the lawsuit told BOSSIP. “And then you still have to pay your 10 percent (in kicked back tips to club staff). Girls were walking out of there with nothing. It happened plenty of times.”