Unhappy Ending

Obiter Dicta

Spirited Performance, Poorly Aimed Heel Ensure That Patron Pays for Lap Dance in More Ways than One

August 2008 Issue
By Brian Sullivan

Illustration by Juvenal Martinez

The Hot Lap Dance Club in New York City is, as the name implies, an establishment where a man can pay for a close encounter with a female employee. This type of encounter involves activity on the lap of the clothed person paying for the service. The service provider wears considerably less than the patron.

Regardless of the seamy details, it’s meant to be a painless dalliance for both parties. Unfortunately for Stephen Chang, it didn’t turn out that way.

New York City resident and securities trader Chang—according to a personal injury lawsuit filed in March at the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York—was the recipient of an unintended heel to his eye when the frisky female “suddenly swung around.”

The lawsuit claims that Chang, described in one account of the incident as married and in his early 30s, suffered unspecified “serious personal injuries.” The suit demands damages “in excess of the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts.”

Neither Chang’s attorney nor the club’s attorney returned calls seeking comment.

There was no indication that Chang notified club personnel of the injury he says he sustained.

A club manager was quoted as saying, “We didn’t have any reported accidents. We have a first aid kit and we would have treated the guy or called an ambulance.”