Adult entertainment club in Fresno closes. A former employee has filed a lawsuit

A longtime-running adult entertainment club just outside Fresno has permanently closed eight months after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging employees were not getting paid.

The wage dispute is among a variety of allegations that Golddiggers Gentlemen’s Club was facing, with a former employee suing both the establishment and owner James Light. The club, on South Golden State Boulevard near Chestnut Avenue, opened in 1999.

The former employee, Danielle Fonseca, also claimed wrongful termination for complaining about illegal activities occurring inside the establishment.

Lawyers for Fonseca declined to detail specifics of the alleged illegal activities but did address the claims of wage violations.

“The payment structure at Golddiggers is that the employees were not paid anything by the club and that the only money they’d make is through tips,” said attorney Brooke Nevels, whose office is based in San Diego. “But on top of that, they’d have to pay a house fee.

“So we’ve heard instances of dancers owing money to the club simply for going to work because there wasn’t much business that night. And that was just one of the issues.”

Fonseca’s lawsuit was filed in May 2025.

It was unclear what was the status of the civil suit in light of Golddigger’s closure announcement, and how much of a factor the lawsuit played in the club shutting down.

It also was not immediately known if the nightclub and/or the owner had filed bankruptcy.

Attempts to reach Light were unsuccessful.

Through court filings, Light denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Fonseca’s lawyers said an attorney representing Light at the time tried to reach a settlement agreement but the parties were too far apart in figures.

“When discussing settlements, there were some initial conversations about (Light’s) inability to pay,” Nevels said. “We didn’t know the financial state of the business. We asked them to send us financials, but they never sent anything over.

“We ran into an impasse.”

In addition to the violations of minimum wage requirements, Golddiggers was facing allegations of not paying workers for overtime.

Golddiggers over the years

Golddiggers had been open since 1999, operating at times as a topless bar, then in more recent years as a fully-nude club that did not serve alcohol.

According to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Golddiggers initially operated with a beer and wine license then served liquor from 2002-2022.

In March 2022, Golddiggers surrendered its liquor license and operated as a fully-nude establishment (California law prohibits alcohol sales in fully-nude places).

The adult club over the years brought in a variety of well-known adult film stars for special events, including Katie Morgan in 2019 and Rachel Rampage as recently as August.

Commercials for Golddiggers also were regularly heard on the radio, promoting amateur nights that encouraged female patrons to dance on stage.

Reviews of the place varied drastically on Yelp and other places online.

Said one Yelp reviewer: “We had a great time... The girls were all nice and some were extremely hot!”

On a Facebook comment, another person added: “We went on a full nudes night and I had to get a tea. First time at a strip club ever, a stranger’s (private part) in your face fully sober is not the move.”

Strip clubs have been on a steady decline in recent years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

BBC.com reported the number of strip clubs has been dwindling throughout major U.S. cities and surrounding suburbs.