Strip Club Sues Oracle Over Employee's $33K Unpaid Tab
A San Francisco strip club is suing Oracle after one of its employees "racked" up $33,540 on a company credit card during a tech conference -- and Oracle refused to foot the bill.
It's a shame Jose Manuel Gomez Sanchez, the Oracle employee and strip club aficionado, didn't pay the $33,540 in $1 bills in lieu of his Oracle-issued American Express card.
But can Oracle be liable for an employee's, um, "extracurricular activities" during its Oracle OpenWorld fest in SF?
In Sanchez's defense, New Century -- billed as "San Francisco's premier all nude gentleman's club" -- does offer discounts to convention-goers, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
So maybe he thought it was a company sponsored event...and thought he was getting a good deal?
Okay, probably not.
American Express' Corporate Credit Card Policy
Depending on what type of corporate card Oracle carries, it may be on the hook for the "services" rendered by the strip club.
According to an American Express representative, in most instances, employees will not be held liable as long as they have fulfilled their personal responsibilities in managing the account; that includes not using the card for personal expenses and filing their expense reports in a timely fashion, according to Credit.com.
Though corporate culture has taken a turn for the misogynistic and generally gross, it's still pretty likely that Sanchez's strip club spending spree would count as "personal expenses," so he'd likely be personally liable for the strip club soiree.
Oracle's Legal Liability
In all likelihood, Sanchez indemnified Oracle as part of the corporate cardholder agreement, which means Oracle will be left out of litigation related to Sanchez's unauthorized card use.
If so, that's bad news for New Century, since it will only be able to go after Sanchez -- even though Oracle is the one with the big bucks.
New Century's lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, comes just as Oracle OpenWorld's mega conference gets rolling, bringing an estimated 60,000 (possibly creepy) techies to town, reports the Chronicle.
If you're fascinated by this tale, you may want to hit up the strip club's attorney, David Cook, at Cook@SqueezeBloodFromTurnip.com. No joke. That's his e-mail address.
Related Resources:
- Strip Club Sues Oracle Over Alleged $33,540 Unpaid Tab (VIDEO) (The Huffington Post)
- Red-Dyed Cash Used at Strip Club Foils Suspected Bank Robber (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)
- Utah Solicitation Law Makes 'Acting Sexy' Illegal (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)
- Converted 'Slambulance' with Stripper Pole Has EMTs Upset (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)