Posted 4/23/2005 11:47:00 AM by Douglas

What do you do when a business overcharges you just for using a credit card? You sue, of course.

Two men who sued more than a half-dozen strip clubs because of extra fees charged for lap dances got some good news from a Houston appeals court.

But that could be bad news for other lap-dance fans, who may want their appreciation for that art form kept confidential.

A three-judge panel of the 14th Texas Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Paul Brian Meekey and Michael Fulmer should be allowed to sue over surcharges for credit card use.

How exactly do you pay for a lap dance with a credit card? Where do you swipe the card?

A lawyer for Meekey and Fulmer said the lawsuit may be made a class-action.

That could mean notifying a lot of other men who used credit cards to pay for lap dances in recent years.

And that might not go over very well in some households.

Yeah, that's going to go over real well when their wives find out about the class action. The good news: getting $50 back from a class action. The bad news: your wife finding out you bought ten lap dances the weekend she was visiting her sister.

"Since the dancers are independent contractors and not employees of the club, the clubs are not the ones selling the dances," Van Huff said.

"Independent contractors?" I know most strippers work for tips and actually have to pay the club to work there, but they're still employees, right? That's just silly.