JESSICA HINES, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, LLC - Articles

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JESSICA HINES, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, LLC

Posted by: Azya Thornton on Jun 9, 2025

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ON BRIEF: Damion M. Clifford, Stefanie L. Coe, Damien Kitte, ARNOLD CLIFFORD LLP, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant

Attorneys 2: ON BRIEF: Daniel J. Canon, Jonathan C. Little, SAEED AND LITTLE, LLP, Indianapolis, Indiana, for Appellee.

Judge(s): United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Columbus

Court Appealed: SUTTON, Chief Judge; GIBBONS and WHITE, Circuit Judges

JULIA SMITH GIBBONS, Circuit Judge. This case centers on whether Plaintiff- Appellee Jessica Hines is bound by an arbitration provision included in contracts she signed on three different occasions between October 2020 and June 2023. In September 2023, Hines sued Defendant-Appellant National Entertainment Group, LLC (“NEG”), an adult entertainment club in Columbus, Ohio, for failing to properly compensate its employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq.; the Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards Act, Ohio Rev. Code § 4111.01 et seq.; the Ohio Semi-Monthly Payment Act, Ohio Rev. Code § 4113.15; Ohio Rev. Code § 2307.60; and common law unjust enrichment. NEG moved to dismiss Hines’s suit or, in the alternative, to stay the proceedings pending completion of arbitration that the parties contractually agreed to in their Lease Agreement Waiver (the “Lease Waiver”). Although Hines does not dispute that she signed three separate agreements to arbitrate, she argues that the agreements are unenforceable because they are both procedurally and substantively unconscionable. Agreeing with Hines, the district court denied NEG’s motion to dismiss and declined to enforce the parties’ agreement to arbitrate. We vacate the district court’s denial of NEG’s motion to stay pending the completion of arbitration and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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