Deal falls through in fight over cabbie tips and strippers

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002 | 10:10 a.m.

A possible settlement over the issue of adult nightclub owners tipping cab drivers who refer patrons to their clubs fell apart Tuesday morning when a club owner fired his attorneys.

Peter Eliadis, who owns Olympic Garden, hired attorney Dominic Gentile to replace a trio of lawyers just hours before they were scheduled to seal an agreement with attorneys for the Pussycats nightclub.

Eliadis, along with the owners of Cheetahs, Crazy Horse Too and Club Paradise, earlier this month filed a lawsuit against several adult nightclubs. The suit alleges the clubs have been diverting customers to their establishments by heavily tipping cab drivers.

District Judge Sally Loehrer issued a temporary injunction preventing the clubs from tipping cab drivers, but employees of Pussycats have been accused of violating that order.

Attorneys Anthony Sgro, Dean Patti and Jerry DePalma -- who had worked for Eliadis -- asked Loehrer to hold Pussycats in contempt of court. Sgro and Patti now represent Cheetahs and Crazy Horse Too. DePalma represents Club Paradise.

On Friday Chief District Judge Mark Gibbons postponed until Tuesday a hearing into the matter because both sides said they were close to a resolution.

On Tuesday afternoon, however, the change in attorneys was announced, and Pussycats attorney Mace Yampolsky said he was reluctant to settle the issue with only three of the four nightclubs.

As a result, Gibbons will hear arguments on the contempt of court issue Thursday.

After the hearing, Eliadis said he wasn't interested in settling the contempt of court issue or the lawsuit itself. The agreement worked out among his old attorneys and Yampolsky would have done that.

"I wasn't satisfied with the way it was going," Eliadis said.

Also on Tuesday Pussycats owner and president Ben Cummings testified that a promotional strategy he employed after Loehrer's decision did not violate the court order.

In previous hearings employees testified that cab drivers were given free admission tickets, which they could sell to their passengers and subsequently pocket the profits. Those who purchased the tickets were then admitted to Pussycats without paying a cover charge.

Cummings testified the promotion had nothing to do with the cab drivers. Instead, he said, it was a means of attracting and retaining customers.

Eliadis said he scuttled the settlement because Pussycats would have been allowed to continue giving out the tickets.

"I think they didn't want the language on the ticket that I wanted," Eliadis said.