Published
August 24, 2026
This settlement resolves claims that six Ohio nightclubs required their dancers to sign a lease agreement, treated them as tenants renting space rather than employees, and paid them no wages at all. If you danced at Cheeks, Top Hat, House of Babes, Private Dancer, Fantasyland West or Sirens between May 14, 2014 and June 16, 2025, you can claim a share of $800,000 — but the online form asks for the Notice ID printed on the postcard you were mailed.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to file a claim form is October 20, 2026, which the court-approved Notice describes as 90 days from the date of the Notice; the Notice gives only that date and does not specify a cutoff time or timezone. October 20, 2026 is also the deadline to object to the settlement and the deadline to exclude yourself from the class. The Court has scheduled a hearing for December 1, 2026 on whether to approve the settlement and the requests for attorney fees, litigation expenses and service awards. No final approval order had been entered and no payment date had been announced as of August 24, 2026.
Status
Claims Open
Claim Deadline
October 20, 2026
Also the objection and exclusion deadline · the Notice gives no cutoff time or timezone
Estimated Payout
Share of $800,000
No per-person estimate published · the fund is reduced by Court-approved fees, expenses and service awards
Proof Required
Yes
Notice ID from the mailed postcard, plus your last name, to file online
What Changed Recently?
The Claims Administrator has issued the court-approved Notice and opened the claim process, which is what put dates on the calendar: an October 20, 2026 deadline to file, object or opt out, and a December 1, 2026 hearing on approval. The case has been pending in the Southern District of Ohio since 2015, and the Court certified a class before the parties reached this settlement, so the class definition below comes from the Court's own earlier order rather than from the settlement agreement.The dispute is about a document. According to the Notice, the clubs named as defendants required dancers to sign a "Lease Agreement" or a similar contract in order to work, and the plaintiffs allege that agreement was created by defendant Greg Flaig. The plaintiffs allege that, beginning at some point on or after May 14, 2014, the clubs paid dancers no wages on the strength of that agreement, and instead charged them fees including "rent" — treating dancers as tenants leasing space, and therefore as independent contractors rather than employees. The plaintiffs sought unpaid wages and the return of those deductions under Ohio law and the Fair Labor Standards Act, plus damages for civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment under Ohio common law, price-fixing damages under federal and state antitrust law, and injunctive relief.
None of that has been decided. The Notice states that the defendants have denied, and continue to deny, most of these allegations and maintain that they did not violate applicable laws. The settlement resolves the case without a ruling on the merits. If you want the background on how these claims work generally, our explainer on FLSA wage and hour violations covers the federal wage floor and the misclassification question at the center of this case.
Who Qualifies?
Under the proposed settlement, you may claim a share of the money if you worked as a dancer or entertainer at any of the following six Ohio clubs at some point between May 14, 2014 and June 16, 2025:- Cheeks — West Carrollton, Ohio
- Private Dancer — Columbus, Ohio
- Top Hat — Mansfield, Ohio
- House of Babes — Columbus, Ohio
- Fantasyland West — Bucyrus, Ohio
- Sirens — Columbus, Ohio
The Court's earlier certification order defined the Class more technically, and that definition is what governs membership: all non-owner, non-employer dancers who worked at any defendant club at any time from May 14, 2014 to the present, while that club either used the Entertainer Tenant System created and disseminated by defendant Greg Flaig, required its dancers to sign and abide by the Entertainer Tenant Space Lease Agreement created and disseminated by Flaig, or otherwise formally regarded its dancers as leasing space at the club as entertainers and required them to acknowledge it — and while that club paid its dancers no wages.
Two points follow from that wording. Owners and employers of the clubs are outside the class. And the defendants named in the case are broader than the six venues: they include the clubs' owners and managers, Greg Flaig individually, the Buckeye Association of Club Executives and The Owners Coalition. Dancers who received a postcard notice were identified from the defendants' own records.
How Much Can You Get?
The Notice does not publish a per-person estimate, and any specific dollar figure you see quoted for an individual dancer is not coming from the official documents. What the Notice does state is that the parties agreed to settle for $800,000 in monetary relief, subject to approval by the Court, along with the non-monetary terms described below.Three Court-approved deductions come out of that amount before claims are paid, and all three are requests rather than settled figures — the Court rules on them at the December 1, 2026 hearing:
- Attorney fees of one third of the settlement amount, requested by the law firms the Court appointed to represent the class.
- Reimbursement of the litigation expenses those firms advanced over the life of the case.
- A $5,000 service award for each of the two class representatives.
Class members are not asked to pay any of these amounts directly, and there is no separate fee owed to class counsel for the representation.
Alongside the money, the settlement carries injunctive terms that take effect 30 days after final approval and that matter to anyone still dancing at these clubs. The defendants have agreed to permanently stop using the Entertainer Tenant System, the Entertainer Tenant Space Lease Agreement and the applications and attachments that accompany it, and to permanently stop imposing the "rent" charge levied under that agreement. Flaig, the Buckeye Association of Club Executives and The Owners Coalition have agreed to stop disseminating that system to Ohio nightclubs, club owners, club managers or their agents and employees, and to stop promoting or encouraging its use. And to the extent the defendants remain in the nightclub business, they have agreed to let dancers choose whether to be classified as employees or independent contractors, or to classify all dancers as employees — each defendant may decide independently. A dancer who chooses employee status is to be treated under the applicable state and federal wage and hour laws, including minimum wage, overtime and relevant taxes; a dancer who chooses independent contractor status is to be treated as a true independent contractor as Ohio law defines it. The defendants have agreed not to try to persuade dancers toward independent contractor status.
These non-monetary terms are not conditional on filing. The Notice states that a class member is entitled to the benefit of them whether or not a timely claim form is submitted.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
Yes, filing online requires an administrator-issued identifier. The claim form login on the official settlement website asks for a Notice ID and your last name, and the site states that both are printed on the postcard notice mailed to class members. That makes this a proof-required settlement even though no receipts, pay records or other documentation are requested — a dancer who never received the postcard, or who no longer has it, cannot get through the online form on her own.There is a second path. The Notice attaches a paper claim form, and it permits a class member to print that form, complete it and mail it to the Claims Administrator. Anyone who believes she is a class member but has no Notice ID should use the contact page on the official settlement website to reach the administrator well before the deadline rather than assuming the mail route will work without follow-up.
What Do You Give Up by Filing?
This settlement splits its release in an unusual way, and it is worth understanding before you decide.Unless you exclude yourself, you are bound by the judgment whether or not you file. Staying in the class automatically releases the Released Parties from the causes of action raised in the operative complaint, or that could have been raised on the facts in it — including claims for unpaid wages, misappropriated tips, unlawful wage deductions, antitrust, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, liquidated damages, treble damages, attorneys' fees and costs, and interest. The settlement defines the Released Parties broadly, reaching the defendants and their related entities, predecessors, successors, parents, subsidiaries, franchisors, insurers, affiliates, owners, officers, directors, employees, agents, insurance carriers and anyone acting in concert with them.
Fair Labor Standards Act claims are carved out of that automatic release. Under the Notice, FLSA claims are released only by class members who fill out and submit a valid claim form. In plain terms: filing gets you money and gives up the federal wage claim; doing nothing keeps the FLSA claim but forfeits any payment and still releases the state-law claims. Excluding yourself is the only way to keep everything, and it means receiving nothing from the settlement.
What Is the Deadline?
October 20, 2026 governs all three decisions — filing a claim, objecting, and opting out. The Notice describes that date as 90 days from the date of the Notice and gives no cutoff time or timezone, so treat it as a hard date and file well ahead of it. A claim form that does not reach the Claims Administrator on or before October 20, 2026 makes the claimant ineligible for compensation.One discrepancy is worth flagging. The exclusion section on the settlement website's home page shows a deadline of October 20, 2025, while the court-approved Notice PDF hosted by the same site gives October 20, 2026 in the corresponding section, consistent with every other deadline in the case and with the December 1, 2026 hearing. The 2025 date appears to be a typographical error on the web page. The Notice is the court-approved document, so its October 20, 2026 date is the one to rely on — and anyone intending to opt out should confirm it with the administrator through the official website rather than acting on the web page alone.
An objection has to be in writing and received by the attorneys appointed to represent the class by October 20, 2026. The Notice requires it to state that you object to the settlement, give the specific reasons with any legal or evidentiary support, say whether you intend to appear at the December 1, 2026 hearing, list every case in which you or your counsel have objected to a settlement, and include your name, address and telephone number, signed and dated. A class member who does not comply with those requirements waives the right to object or appear. Objecting is not a prerequisite to filing a claim, and filing a claim does not prevent you from objecting.
Opting out requires a signed exclusion letter sent to class counsel by mail, email or fax, containing the statement the Notice specifies — that you wish to opt out of the case, that you understand you will receive no money from the settlement, and that you understand you may bring your own lawsuit and may get a different result, good or bad. The addressing details are in the Notice itself, embedded further down this page.
How Do You Take Action?
Filing is done through the official settlement website, which is operated by the Claims Administrator, Atticus Administration. The site carries the claim form login, the full court-approved Notice, an important-dates page, the settlement documents and a contact page. Log in with the Notice ID and last name from your postcard, complete the online claim form, and submit it before October 20, 2026. The online form supports an electronic signature, so nothing has to be printed to use that route.If you do not have a Notice ID, the paper claim form attached to the Notice can be completed and mailed to the Claims Administrator at the address printed in the Notice. OpenClassActions is not the settlement administrator and cannot look up your Notice ID, confirm which club records list you, or tell you what your payment will be — those answers come from the official settlement website.
The Notice also addresses retaliation directly: it states that the law strictly forbids an employer from retaliating against an employee for being involved in or making a claim in a lawsuit, including by firing, docking pay or changing hours, and it directs anyone who experiences retaliation to report it to the attorneys appointed to represent the class.
What Happens Next?
The Court will hold its hearing on December 1, 2026 and will consider whether to approve the settlement, the request for attorney fees, the reimbursement of litigation expenses and the service awards for the two class representatives. Class members who filed a timely objection may appear, but the Notice states that appearing is optional even for objectors.A hearing being held is not the same as approval being granted. If the Court does approve the settlement, the injunctive terms take effect 30 days after final approval, and payments to claimants follow the Court's approval and the resolution of any appeals. No payment date had been announced as of August 24, 2026. Our wage and hour class action hub tracks this case alongside the other open unpaid-wage settlements, and we will update this page when the docket reflects a ruling.
Sources and Verification
- Court-approved Notice of Proposed Settlement of Class Action Lawsuit in Hogan, et al. v. Cleveland Ave. Restaurant, Inc., et al., No. 2:15-cv-2883 (S.D. Ohio, Eastern Division) — embedded below.
- Official settlement website operated by Atticus Administration, including its claim form login, important-dates page and settlement documents.
- Opinion and order in Hogan v. Cleveland Ave Restaurant, Inc., No. 2:15-cv-02883 (S.D. Ohio), one of the rulings in the case docket.
- Docket for Case No. 2:15-cv-2883, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, available through PACER and through the GovInfo record for the case.
Questions
Do I lose my FLSA claim if I never file a claim form?
No. The Notice states that Fair Labor Standards Act claims are excluded from the release that applies automatically to class members. Only class members who fill out and submit a valid claim form release their FLSA claims. Not filing keeps that federal claim intact, but it also means no money from the $800,000 fund.
I danced at one of the clubs but never received a postcard notice. Can I still file?
The online claim form is gated: it asks for the Notice ID printed on the mailed postcard plus your last name. The Notice also allows a claimant to print the paper claim form attached to it and mail it to the Claims Administrator. Anyone who believes they are a class member but has no Notice ID should use the contact page on the official settlement website to reach the administrator before the October 20, 2026 deadline.
Can a club retaliate against me for filing a claim?
The Notice states that the law forbids an employer from retaliating against an employee for being involved in or making a claim in a lawsuit, and that this includes firing, docking pay or changing hours. It directs anyone who experiences retaliation to report it to the attorneys appointed by the Court to represent the class.
What changes at the clubs if the settlement is approved?
Beginning 30 days after final approval, the defendant clubs have agreed to permanently stop using the Entertainer Tenant System and the Entertainer Tenant Space Lease Agreement and to permanently stop imposing the rent charge that agreement supported. Greg Flaig, the Buckeye Association of Club Executives and The Owners Coalition have agreed to stop disseminating or promoting that system to Ohio clubs. Clubs still operating have also agreed to let dancers choose to be classified as employees or independent contractors, or to classify all dancers as employees.
Does this settlement mean the clubs were found to have broken the law?
No. The Notice states that the defendants have denied, and continue to deny, most of the allegations and claim that they did not violate applicable laws. The parties agreed to a settlement rather than litigate the remaining claims to judgment, and no court has decided the merits of the wage, antitrust, civil conspiracy or unjust enrichment claims.
How much will each dancer receive from the $800,000 settlement?
The Notice does not publish a per-person estimate. It states that the parties agreed to settle for $800,000 in monetary relief plus non-monetary relief, and that class counsel will ask the Court to approve fees of one third of the settlement amount, reimbursement of litigation expenses, and a $5,000 service award for each of the two class representatives. What is left after the Court rules on those requests is what funds the claims.
Official Settlement Notice
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Settlement Amount
$800,000
Case Title
Hogan, et al. v. Cleveland Ave. Restaurant, Inc., et al.
Case Number
2:15-cv-2883
Court
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division
Final Approval Hearing
December 1, 2026
The Notice gives the date only — it does not publish a time or courtroom
Administrator
Atticus Administration
Official Website
Official Settlement Website
