- Star Garden bar strippers were unlawfully fired, the National Labor Relations Board said.
- They dancers said they worked in unsafe conditions including rat infestations and rusty nails.
A topless bar in North Hollywood violated labor laws after firing three strippers and stopping 15 others from working there, according to the National Labor Relations Board.
The decision to issue a complaint by the board's regional office in Los Angeles made on Tuesday was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
The group of strippers were blocked from working at the Star Garden in February and have since been staging regular demonstrations outside the venue.
The group filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after they were fired or shut out in February. They claimed that Star Garden committed 30 breaches of OSHA regulations that "protect workers' rights to safe and healthy workplaces."
They claimed they had to work in unsafe conditions due to rat infestations, broken glass on the floor, cockroaches, rusty nails on stage and bed bugs on furniture, the New York Post reported.
Kayla Blado, a spokesperson for the NLRB, told the LA Times that the Star Garden "unlawfully retaliated" against the dancers because they "raised concerns about their health and safety."
The labor board has asked the business to reimburse the dancers for damages and will ask an administrative law judge to order their reinstatement at a hearing next year, the newspaper reported.
The women submitted a petition in March calling for the Star Garden to treat them with "basic dignity and humanity." They also demanded it put in place safety measures such as preventing customers from filming them and staying after closing time, the petition said.
They then launched a retrospective bid to unionize and join the Actors' Equity Association in August. Their efforts to unionize have been held back because the bar's owners say not all of the dancers were not employees, according to the report.
The NLRB and Star Garden's legal representative, Vahe Khojayan, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.