I first began working at the Las Vegas Spearmint Rhino in the spring of 2000 and was immediately put on the night shift.
On May 15th, after a rumor had circulated that I was transsexual, I was told by the manager, John, to report to dayshift. I was also told that dayshift would be the only shift available to me if I wished to continue working there. Since I had been quite successful at the club at night, I pressed for some reason for the shift change but was never offered a satisfactory explanation.
On the same evening, I overheard the Champagne Room manager, T, actually talking guys out of going into the VIP room with me and on two separate occasions he told me point blank that there was no room in the VIP Room, even though I could clearly see there were open seats.
I suspected discrimination but, without proof, could do nothing about the situation so I reported to dayshift the next day. My income dropped dramatically and I was soon forced to look elsewhere for employment.
On September 13, I was hired again at the Las Vegas Spearmint Rhino and, again, offered only the dayshift.
On Friday, Sept 14 I worked from 1pm to 9:00pm and was told by the other dancers that if you worked the dayshift, you were allowed to come in at 3:00 in the morning so you could make a little extra money.
On Saturday, Sept 15 I did just that and arrived at 3:00 in the morning. When I arrived, the manager at the door let the three dayshift girls in front of me in to work, however, when it came to me, he took my Sheriff's card, asked my dancer name, and informed me that John said you can't work until 5:00.
On Wednesday, Sept 26 I reported to work at 1pm and stayed until exactly 9:00 (at which time I was promptly ushered off the floor). At one point, when I was on stage, several dancers sitting with a group of guys stood up and started clapping wildly and laughing.
Later, when I went up to ask for a dance, one of the customers in the group jumped out of his chair to get away from me saying, I'm not into that shit! When I talked to one of the floorwalkers to express my concerns, I was told he would talk to the girls.
I returned to the same situation on Thursday, Sept 27. I got quite a few dances the first hour when there were only a few girls at the club, but when the other girls came in, my money dropped to nothing. Later that afternoon, my co-worker, Eliza Booth, was told by a customer that he had heard from one of the dancers that I was transsexual. Again I talked to the floorwalkers and, again, I was told they'd look into it.
On Friday, September 28 the situation was repeated. I voiced my suspicions to some of the girls, but they denied saying anything. Then my friend, Eliza, overheard one of the dancers telling a customer I was really a guy. Again I went to the floorwalkers with my situation but no action was taken.
On Saturday, September 29, my suspicions that management was discriminating against me were confirmed. I arrived at work at 2:00pm to the same hostile work environment. Dancers were laughing and making money with large groups of men, but whenever I would approach them for a dance, they'd nearly break their backs trying to get away from me. Once again I went to a floorwalker for help and, once again, nothing happened.
Several hours into my shift, I managed to get a dance from a man who was sitting with a large group on the floor. While I was dancing for him, one of his friends leaned over and whispered something in his ear. After the dance I sat down by the side of the stage and my friend, Eliza, went up to the group to ask for a dance. One of the men said to her, Did you know you have a transsexual working here? Eliza replied, No we don't Then the man said, Yes you do. Over there. He then pointed to me sitting on a chair by the stage. Then he added, Every girl in this club has warned us about her and told us not to get a dance from her.
Broke and humiliated, I was quickly ushered off the floor at exactly 9:00pm (as usual) even though the club desperately needed girls. As I made my way from the dressing room to the back door, I listened as John (the night manager) asked each dayshift girl as they came out if they would like to work an extra three hours that night to make a little extra money. When he got to me he simply said, Goodnight, and then continued asking the girls behind me if they would like to stay over and work.
One of the dancers asked to stay over happened to be my friend, Eliza, When John asked her if she'd be willing to work over, she asked him, What about my friend? (meaning me).
John's reply was very simple, Oh, you mean the guy, I mean girl you hang around with?
I subsequently left and was immediately hired at the top club in Las Vegas, Paradise, where I am still employed. On the night shift.
Andrea
Las Vegas, Nevada
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