Two former nightclub employees are accusing a Bourbon Street establishment of “tip theft,” arguing it knowingly violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by imposing a mandatory gratuity split.
Plaintiff Brian Sievers of St. Tammany Parish and plaintiff Chad Burnett of Orleans Parish filed their lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana Oct. 15.
The named defendant is RCI Entertainment Louisiana Inc. RCI, headquartered in New Orleans, operates a club on Bourbon Street known as Rick’s Cabaret.
Rick’s is a three-story “gentleman’s club.” The second story of the club is known as the VIP area.
According to the plaintiffs’ six-page complaint, Sievers began working at Rick’s in August 2021, starting as the outside doorman. He was promoted to the VIP 2 host position in April 2022. He held the position until he resigned in September 2025.
Burnett also worked as a VIP 2 host from when he started, in October 2024 until September 2025.
According to the filing, to enter the VIP area, patrons must rent one of the VIP rooms, either for one-half hour or for a full hour. There are several VIP rooms, of different sizes and at different prices.
As VIP 2 hosts, Sievers and Burnett were responsible for presenting the VIP room options to each patron, running the patron’s credit card, and checking IDs before allowing patrons to enter the VIP room.
Each patron’s credit card receipt included a line for “gratuity,” the plaintiffs claim. Most, they said, left a gratuity on top of the VIP room charge.
The plaintiffs claim Rick’s implemented a mandatory tip split for this VIP gratuity money. Sixty percent of the nightly total VIP tips were allocated to the managers on duty; 30 percent was allocated to the VIP 2 Host; and 10 percent was allocated to the bartender.
“At the end of the night, the Plaintiffs were required to print out the nightly ‘tip sheet’ and bring it to the bartender,” they said in their complaint. “The bartender would ‘cash out’ the tips and Plaintiffs were responsible for calculating the 60/30/10 tip split and distributing the money.”
Sievers and Burnett claim some nights there were only one or two managers on duty; however, on the weekends, there could be three or four.
But no matter how many managers were working, they would receive 60% of the VIP tips, the plaintiffs allege.
“Managers were paid on a salary exempt basis. Prior to this mandatory tip split policy, managers also received periodic bonuses from Rick’s,” the complaint states. “On information and belief, the mandatory VIP tip split was put into place to replace the periodic manager bonuses, because paying manager bonuses reduces Rick’s bottom line.”
Plaintiffs claim they complained about the VIP tip allocation to managers, but nothing was done
In early 2025, the VIP tip split was modified and 5% was allocated to the outside doorman. From that point on, 60% of the tips went to managers, 27.5% went to the VIP 2 Host, 7.5% went to the bartender, and 5% went to the outside doorman, they say.
Sievers and Burnett also claim they were required to pay a 5% fee to Rick’s on their tips – and the reason why was never explained to them. However, 5% exceeds the credit card company charge, they pointed out.
The plaintiffs allege patrons also were separately charged a 5% fee on credit card payments.
The VIP 2 host position was phased out in September 2025. Both plaintiffs left Rick’s to find new employers.
According to the filing, Rick’s violated the FLSA by diverting 60% of the VIP tips to managers or supervisors, and by imposing a 5% credit card charge on plaintiffs’ tips.
“Defendant’s actions were willful and/or showed reckless disregard for the provisions of the FLSA as Defendant knew, or should have known, such tip theft was illegal, and Defendant ignored Plaintiffs’ repeated complaints,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs seek a payment of all monies owed; liquidated damages and/or treble damages; litigation costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees; and prejudgment interest.
New Orleans attorney Charles Stiegler is representing Sievers and Burnett.
