Strip Clubs Still Rake In Expense Account Cash: Bloomberg Report

A new report by Bloomberg News has good tidings for gentlemen's clubs. Despite the rise of the #MeToo movement and the increased awareness of gender discrimination in the workplace that has come with it, big businesses are showing few signs of easing up on the age-old practice of holding important client meetings in strip clubs—and dropping large sums of expense account cash there.  “The past year has brought new attention to the sexist and harassing behavior women face in many workplaces, from explicitly sexual overtures to getting passed over for leadership positions and raises. After all that, the idea that a strip club is a good place to, say, bond with a client or co-workers seems especially reckless,” the Bloomberg article noted, citing Stanford University sociologist Marianne Cooper.  However, “whether on the corporate card or not, club owners say their corporate clientele is as enthusiastic as ever,” the article said. Earlier this year, the Under Armour athletic apparel company came under fire for its long-running practice of allowing employees to hang out at strip clubs  on the company dime, and the Baltimore-based firm responded by banning the practice.   But while many companies had long ago prohibited employees from playing for adult entertainment with their corporate cards, business expense accounts still account for about 10 percent of all strip club revenues, according to the Association of Club Executives, a trade group that represents about 1,000 strip clubs nationwide, Bloomberg reported. “It’s dropped considerably,” said Angelina Spencer, ACE executive director and a former club co-owner herself. “Companies have mostly put the kibosh on it.” Of course, the bans have not stopped some employees from trying to sneak strip club bills into their expense reports—but some companies are figuring out how to stop that, too.  According to a separate Bloomberg report this week, Silicon Valley startup AppZen is now marketing an app that uses artificial intelligence algorithms to audit employee expenses. Unlike human auditors, who are able to scrutinize only about 20 percent of all expense reports, the AI app will comb through 100 percent of employee claimed expenses, meaning that technology represents a threat to the strip club business lunch tradition. Photo By Gogirl18 / Wikimedia Commons