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Clowns! You would think they wouldn’t be a thing anymore, that we had all collectively decided that this was just something that we, as a post-Gacy, post-It society, simply did not want for ourselves. But they are, in fact, still a thing. Clowning is an actual job and clowns, like any other workers, deserve to be paid.
Alas, Clowns.com, a New York-based clown booking agency, is being sued for wage theft and employee misclassification by several clowns who worked for them. Four former clowns say that the company owes them years of back pay and compensation for travel for driving around from children’s party to children’s party, making balloon animals and scarring people for life.
The suit was filed by former clowns Brayan Angulo, Xander Black, Cameron Pille, and Janina Salorio, 28, of Floral Park, in Manhattan’s Southern District on Tuesday.
The plaintiffs allege that Clowns.com owners George Adolph Rodriguez and Erica Barbuto violated New York State labor law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act when they misclassified their workers as independent contractors when they should have been classified as employees, failed to reimburse them for travel as promised, did not pay them overtime for working more than 40 hours a week and even required the clowns to pay them $5-$10 per hour.
Via Newsday:
The federal complaint was brought by former Clowns.com employees Brayan Angulo and Xander Black, both 25 and of Washington Heights; Cameron Pille, 25, of Harlem; and Janina Salorio, 28, of Floral Park, who allege violations of New York State labor law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.
Janina Salorio, 28, of Floral Park worked as a clown from January 2018 through the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The complaint alleges that Rodriguez did not believe the pandemic was real and regularly sent Salorio QAnon conspiracy videos disputing the virus and its effects.
Salorio eventually found a new job as a music teacher in August 2020 but lost the position four months later when Rodriguez called her new employer to insist she was “nothing but problems and drama,” the suit states.
“I loved entertaining for kids while at Clowns.com, but management misled us about the nature of the job,” Salorio said. “They promised us wages of $25 per hour, but they said we weren’t employees and we weren’t paid for all the hours that we worked. We’re fighting to put an end to their illegal practices.”
Baran accuses Clowns.com of a bait and switch in which the company recruited young, out-of-work actors to perform at children’s parties, promising them hourly wages for all of the hours they worked, including the time spent traveling from the Elmont warehouse to pick up the costumes, between parties and when “checking out” at the end of the shift.
Additionally, Pille says that he was fired immediately after he discussed the company’s wage issues with another employee, who subsequently ratted him out to the Clowns.com owners and will henceforth be known as Scabby the Clown.
If you think all of that is horrifying, you should see this video displayed prominently on the Clowns.com site.
Okay, fine. The wage theft is definitely worse.
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