Jump to content

Strip club sues over lack of coronavirus funding aid


bostonbro

Recommended Posts

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — A strip club business that operates in Las Vegas has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Small Business Administration after not receiving money from the $2 trillion federal coronavirus aid bill.

Little Darlings owner Jason Mohney has struggled obtaining emergency funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act after Congress grouped the business into the category of operations of a prurient sexual nature, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

Mohney argues the exclusion is discriminatory toward a class of workers who perform a legal and legitimate service through the Flint, Michigan-based company, which operates 200 exotic dance clubs in Las Vegas and multiple other cities.

“The purpose of these loans is to give money for payroll from businesses to their employees, so to do something like this is just shortchanging the employees themselves,” he said.

 

Small businesses with 500 or fewer employees would have been able to borrow up to $10 million, officials said, adding that the loans would be forgiven if used to keep employees on the payroll for eight weeks, or if they were used for building expenses such as rent or utility payments.

“As a country, we’re having some really important conversations about work and labor right now and it’s putting workers that perhaps have been marginalized front in center in our conversations,” said Lynn Comella, an associate professor of gender and sexuality studies at UNLV. “(Adult industry workers) also have to pay rent or pay their mortgage or support their families or buy car insurance and food.”

But not all companies in the sexual business have been denied funding. Bella’s Hacienda Ranch brothel owner Madam Bella Cummins received a notification that her funding application was approved for around $70,000, but the program had run out of money by then.

“It was a huge milestone because it’s the first time I was approved for anything associated with a grant or part of a package,” she said.

The lawsuit comes as the state of Nevada has reported at least 163 deaths related to the coronavirus.

The state Department of Health and Human Services also reports at least 3,830 positive tests as of Monday.

More than 32,300 people have been tested.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe life-threatening illness, including pneumonia, and death.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...