Bikini Barista Espresso Stand Sues Barista For Going to Work at Competing Bikini Barista Espresso Stand
Foxy Lady, an espresso stand chain known to employ attractive women who are required to wear revealing garments, claims that Ana Solivan breached a contract by going to work for Knotty Bodies Espresso Puyallup – a competing bikini barista stand.
Foxy Lady employs attractive baristas, dresses them in lingerie, bikinis and other revealing garments, and holds itself out as offering service that is “the classiest, sexiest and friendliest.” The espresso chain, which targets male customers over the age of eighteen, relies heavily on loyal customers who visit the business repeatedly.
In the complaint, published by Courthouse News, Foxy Lady alleges that many customers return regularly to be served by a particular barista. Further, the chain encourages the development of such clientele through training, provision of costumes and marketing of individual baristas on the chain’s website and calendar.
According to the complaint, Foxy Lady requires its baristas to sign a non-compete contract requiring that for a period of two years after leaving Foxy Lady’s, the former employees refrain from competing with Foxy Lady within a radius of ten miles from the location where they were formerly employed.
The defendant, Solivan, who used the name “Alicia”, became an employee for Foxy Lady in 2010, and remained as a barista with Foxy Lady until late 2011.
Knotty Bodies, a Washington based business offering coffee drinks and food, served by scantily clad young women, and a direct competitor of Foxy Lady, opened a location well within the ten mile radius of the Foxy Lady located at 13728 Canyon Road, Puyallup, Washington.
On or about December 13, 2011, the principals of Foxy Lady became aware of the fact that Solivan was working as a barista at the Knotty Bodies location within the ten mile radius. On information and belief, as stated in the complaint, Solivan continues to work at Knotty Bodies.
Foxy Lady has filed a complaint for breach of contract against Solivan and a complaint for violation of uniform trade secrets act against Solivan and Knotty Bodies. Foxy Lady also filed a complaint for tortious interference against Knotty Bodies, which implies that Knotty Bodies knew or should have known that Foxy Lady has a non-compete contract with Solivan. Therefore, Knotty Bodies intentionally interfered with Foxy Lady’s contractual relationship with Solivan when it had a duty of noninterference to Foxy Lady.
Foxy Lady requests that the court find each defendant jointly and severally liable to the Plaintiff for damages in an amount to be proven at trial, but not less than fifty dollars ($50) per day for each day Solivan is employed at the Knotty Bodies Canyon Road location. The chain also requests that the court grant injunctive relief requiring Solivan not to compete with Foxy Lady in violation of the contract.
I live in Canada, so my information may not be very relevant. Here, although ‘non competition’ clauses in contracts have some validity, they often are set aside as being coercive (you can’t get the job without signing them) and against general social principles – you are not allowed to contractually prevent a person from working in their trade.
My understanding is that a person may not take away and use or share trade secrets, or customer lists, but customers are of course free to follow a professional to that person’s new job. One of my fellow workers had this happen when they moved from one firm to another, and many of their clients migrated with them, along with their business of course. The original company tried to stop it, but it did not work at all.
As I understand it, non compete contracts usually only have value in preventing employees from starting competing businesses, rather than working for them.
I believe you’re right Dougall. It’s a shame that the company can stoop to this level….
Most states courts will strike the non-compete clause as being discriminatory – meaning your making the employee unemployable.
I’ve signed non-competes for almost every job I’ve had (I’m in IT), they’re all pretty much unenforceable. Contracts that violate the law are unenforceable.
I’m not too concerned-these ladies will win out, most likely. Best of luck to them, and screw Foxy Lady.
In most US States, they’re the same way… but you can always sue for anything. I’m forwarding this article to a major strip club that owns the name “Foxy Lady” in every state… I’m looking forward to the coffee shop finding out that “there is always someone bigger and better than you” or more appropriately, with deeper pockets.
Too funny Captain Obvious! I hope The bigger “Foxy Lady” screws them to death!
I agree 100%. These girls are trying to make a living. EVERYWHERE I go in Western Washington there are bikini/lingerie stands on every corner. All are competiting stores and all have gorgeous woman. I cant believe that Foxy Lady is stooping to the level of trying to sue someone simply because she doesnt work for them anymore.. and at $50 a day in lost profits? Are you kidding me? Do they sue every single girl that chooses to no longer work for them? And according to this article this poor girl worked for them for around a year… if that. Maybe they should ask themselves why they are losing employees to other stores rather than sueing them. Good luck Ana and see you at Knotty Bodies!
It sounds like foxy is money hungry and that’s why there stuff is over priced and maybe that’s why they lose customers. Why personally go after one girl that is trying to make a living instead of all the girls that you lost to other bikini stands less than 10miles. Sounds like a personally problem to me. Or maybe foxy is just that threatened by this poor girl. No man likes drama, so why start all this drama and lure your customers away from you even more because of the type of owners your being. Your just losing more business to the un necessary drama that guys don’t care for and going to lure them to knotty bodies to see this Alicia girl. You know why I go there instead of foxy? The girls are hotter and it’s more convenient instead of cutting 15 minutes into my commute because of the round about. Also, not one girl at knotty bodies talks about drama and not one girl says anything bad about foxy and the girls. For all the things foxy is putting Alicia through, man am I scratching my head trying to understand why Alicia isn’t the number one girl to talk a lot of crap about them. Because I would. She says nothing but good things about them and this is why I’d rather see her than them. She’s sweet and not about the drama.
I think it’s illegal to post the papers on the Internet during a lawsuit? That’s personal not public. Foxy is wasting their time and money and I hope foxy loses. Stooping to this level.
My daughter is one of these beautiful barista’s and she has worked at two two of the largest Bikini stands in Western WA. Neither of these companies require a non-compete. Foxy Lady manages by intimidation, taking advantage of girls, (ages 18 to 25.) The owners come from the casino industry and run audio & video surveillance on the girls 24/7. They are known to call the girls immediately if they see one of them giving a customer an extra pump of syrup or inadvertantly tossing an extra shot of espresso into the cup!
I too have signed non-competes throughout my career as a requirement of the job and to enforce one of these the previous employer, (Foxy Lady), has to get customers to testify under oath that they no longer use their services because they were asked to follow the departing employee to another place of business. Foxy can’t look at register receipts in order to determine blame, maybe it’s just that the service or product is not as good as it once was or maybe the customer you’ve lost has moved to another state or works in another part of town. The reasons for your loss of revenue are endless.
I look forward to an update from Captain Obvious and hope consumers around Western WA boycott Foxy Lady for harassing these young girls. This is the second time, that I’m aware of, where Foxy has gone after one of these girls and in each case the girls have had to hire an attorney in order to respond accordingly. Go find someone else to pick on Foxy and remember, “what goes around, comes around” in life and you are no exception.