Nashville Strip Club Sues City Claiming 'Conspiracy'

NASHVILLE, TN -- Church Street strip club Deja Vu is suing Metro Nashville in federal court, saying it was denied a valet permit unfairly, the latest escalation in an ongoing tete de tete between one of the few remaining Music City strip bars and its increasingly image-conscious hometown.

Deja Vu and its parking contractor The Parking Guys allege in a federal lawsuit that Metro's denial of a valet parking permit is part of a "civil conspiracy" to keep customers from visiting the club, a conspiracy they claim includes a Metro councilman and Midtown businesses and that violates their First Amendment free speech rights and equal protection and due process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

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The club and valet service claim that the Metro Traffic and Parking Commissions's denial of the permit was based on "false and defamatory" statements made by Councilman Freddie O'Connell, who represents the area, and two nearby businessowners, who claimed that the club's valet service was causing traffic congestion and safety concerns on Church Street. Meanwhile, Metro Public Works employees testified there was sufficient space to operate a valet stand and that the request met all the technical requirements under Metro Code. Furthermore, a study from an engineering firm found that Deja Vu's valet operation was consistent with other businesses throughout the city, including the nearby Tribe and Play nightclubs.

The lawsuit cites an email O'Connell sent to a public works employee where in O'Connell said the valet service caused "inappropriate vehicle activity" on 15th Avenue and that its continued operation would cause “unfortunate public safety concerns, traffic and parking issues that could affect performance of emergency vehicles, and general negative traffic and parking issues for area users of the public right of way.”

At a meeting of the commission, the engineering firm presented its report showing that Deja Vu's valet operation was in line with others throughout Metro, but nevertheless, the permit was denied, apparently because of O'Connell's opposition.

"Well, I think the report and the pictures seem to be a little bit at odds from –just based on – on – kind of that – but I do think the letter from Councilman O’Connell should stand for a lot since he hopefully has a – the – a good feeling of what’s going on on his street. So I would move to deny the valet stand," Commissioner Nora Kern said.

Deja Vu and The Parking Guys allege that neighboring businesses have been conspiring against the club since it moved from its long-time home on Demonbreun in 2017, citing an interview property owner Lee Molette gave to The Tennessean, in which he claimed rampant drug use, litter and "mooning." In that same Tennessean story, O'Connell said he'd seen a video of a drug deal on neighboring property. Deja Vu denied those allegations then and do so again in the lawsuit, noting that Metro Police has provided no reports of illegal activity at the club, nor has the club been sanctioned by the Sexually Oriented Business Licensing Board since its move. Neither the video of the drug deal cited by O'Connell nor the one showing the mooning have been produced, the suit says.

O'Connell told Fox 17 the valet permit was denied because the club had earlier been operating a valet stand illegally and that it has nothing to do with discrimination.

"As someone involved in public policy and someone who has a variety of businesses operating in that stretch of Church Street, everything from clubs to the Hustler Hollywood, I would ask any of those other organizations if they think this is a discriminatory landscape," O'Connell told the station. "I really don't think it is."

The suit lists Metro Nashville, the Traffic and Parking Commission, O'Connell, Molette and Linda Schipani, who leads the Midtown business association, as defendants and seeks damages for lost profits in a jury trial.

Schipani’s attorney, Daniel Horwitz, is confident in his client’s success at trial.

“Unfortunately, this lawsuit is teeming with so much conspiratorial, quasi-legal gobbledygook that it is almost impossible to parse. Regardless, I have no doubt that it will be dismissed at its first appearance, and that Déjà Vu will be paying Mrs. Schipani’s legal bills very soon,” he said.

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