NY- from www.gothamist.com – There’s a cliche in movies (and certain, uh, adult films) that many strippers are actually empowered women trying to pay their way through graduate school.

Scoff if you will, but considering how many strippers have successfully sued the city or their employers in the last year, for everything from career-ending scars to sexual harassment, we’re starting to think there may be something to this.

A stripper at three NYC clubs is suing the club owners, claiming that they make her pay illegal kickbacks in order to grind her pole.

K. Ae Han, known professionally as Kioki, claims she had to fork over $160 a night as a “shift fee” to work at FlashDancers, Private Eyes and New York Dolls. We’re not terribly surprised at the kickbacks allegation, but what we are surprised about is that she works for three different clubs.

Oh sure, all three are sister establishments. But still, it surprises us that dancers get shipped from location to location. Is there no exclusivity clause in their contracts? Wait, do strippers even have contracts?? It’s a little different, but imagine if this happened in other professions—if CC Sabathia pitched for the Yankees, Mets, and Brooklyn Cyclones! Which, incidentally, the Mets would totally be up for.