Verdicts & Settlements
Pole Dancing Instructor Settles Suit over Studio Ban
Posted Oct 16, 2008, 01:04 pm CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A pole dancing instructor hopes to help women release their “inner goddess” now that a legal settlement will allow her to open her dance studio.
There is no nudity in pole dancing classes taught by part-time dance teacher Stephanie Babines, but officials in Adams Township near Pittsburgh still had concerns, the New York Times reports. They feared the studio would become a strip club or a massage parlor, or that it would sell sex toys.
The settlement comes with written assurances to allay the concerns, Babines’ lawyer, Witold Walczak, told the Times. Walczak is legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.
Babines told the Times she was happy with the agreement. “Now I can move forward with the women I teach and help them release their inner goddess,” she said. A claim for legal fees and damages is still pending.
Babines had sued with the help of the ACLU after the township refused to issue an occupancy permit for the studio. The township had claimed the studio was an adult business that cannot be located within 1,000 feet of a bar or a residential area.
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