A group of exotic dancers are suing retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for failing to pay proper wages, including one dancer who also accused Mayweather of slapping her when she brought up her pay, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Las Vegas.
The class and collective action suit was filed in Clark County (Nev.) District Court by two exotic dancers on behalf of all exotic dancers who have worked at Girl Collection, a Las Vegas strip club owned by Mayweather and his sister Deltricia Howard.
Girl Collection as well as attorneys who represented the club and Mayweather in a related previous lawsuit did not respond to messages seeking comment from The Athletic. A message to Mayweather Promotions, the boxer’s promotional company for fights, also was not returned.
In the lawsuit filed Monday, the dancers said Mayweather and Howard misclassified them as independent contractors rather than employees and did not pay minimum wage for hours worked. The dancers also accused Mayweather and Howard of requiring them to pay fees and portions of their tips to other employees, which the lawsuit alleged was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Mayweather determines when dancers are allowed to leave for the night and he “often decides how much of the dancers’ tips will be retained by the club for a given shift,” the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs also allege Mayweather and Howard “threatened, intimidated and retaliated against them” in response to a previous lawsuit filed last year in federal court. That case was dismissed in August and refiled in state court, with the accusation of assault added.
Matthew Thomson, the plaintiff’s attorney, said text message chains including Mayweather showed he was coordinating with dancers on schedules and standards for the club’s operation. The messages are included as an exhibit in a court filing, with Mayweather labeled as “Champ” in group conversation.
“We believe strongly that Girl Collection was exploiting the entertainers and violating state and federal wage laws, and that Mayweather played a direct role in all of this,” Thomson said.
In the new lawsuit, one of the dancers accused Mayweather of slapping her in the face in front of other dancers when she approached him about pay on April 23, 2023. She said that after the strike, Mayweather followed her into the locker room area and told her she could not “take a joke.” She said her employment at Girl Collection was terminated “for her perceived involvement in this Court case and for requesting her wages from previous shifts.”
The Athletic generally does not identify people who say they are victims of abuse.
The lawsuit seeks back pay and damages, as well as a ruling that the dancers are employees rather than independent contractors.
Mayweather, 47, is considered one of the greatest boxers in modern history, though he has a history of violence against women.
He retired in 2017 at 50-0 after defeating Conor McGregor, and has since fought eight exhibition bouts, most recently against John Gotti III in August.
In 2003, two women accused Mayweather of punching them at a nightclub. He was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor battery, according to the Associated Press.
Mayweather spent two months in jail in 2012 for domestic battery following a 2010 argument with his ex-girlfriend accused him of punching and pulling her hair in front of their children. The case delayed one of Mayweather’s most famous boxing showcases, a bout with Manny Pacquiao that did not happen until 2015.
In 2014, a former fiancee of Mayweather accused him of physical abuse in a civil lawsuit, but the case was dropped in 2021.
Seamus Hughes contributed to this report.
(Photo: Medios y Media / Getty Images)
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