Former exotic dancers at a Birmingham strip club were employees of the establishment, not independent contractors, a federal judge ruled as part of a labor lawsuit filed by the entertainers.

The dancers claimed The Furnace, at 309 28th St. North, violated provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including not paying them minimum wage or overtime. The suit also contended the strip club illegally took the dancers’ tips and engaged in an illegal kickback scheme by requiring the dancers to fork over house fees.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John England ruled Wednesday that several factors pointed to the dancers being employees, such as that The Furnace “exercised enough control” over the dancers’ ability to work, that the business controlled the opportunity for dancers to earn a living and that the strip club business expenses outweighed the dancers’ costs.

“First, and most crucially, The Furnace controlled dancers’ access to the club and its customers by controlling the hours during which dancers could perform at the club and the customers dancers could interact with,” England wrote. “While dancers could and did advertise themselves to customers via social media and other means in an effort to draw them to The Furnace, that was insufficient for a dancer to actually perform for those customers.”

The Furnace said the fact that the City of Birmingham required the dancers to obtain a dancer’s permit and a business license supported its argument that the entertainers were independent contractors.

England disagreed, noting that the city said there was no relationship between acquiring the permit and license “and independent contractor status.”

Among other reasons, England ruled, “a reasonable jury could not find on this record that Plaintiffs are independent contractors of The Furnace. Therefore, Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment is due to be granted as to this issue.”

A status conference on the alleged labor law violations is set for Oct. 23.

“The parties should be prepared to discuss next steps for this case, including whether they believe magistrate-judge-led mediation would be beneficial,” England wrote.