Appellate Case No. Court of Appeals of South Carolina. Heard March 27, Decided Sept. Rehearing Denied Oct. Charles B. Hewitt and John S. Lisa C. FEW , C. The workers' compensation commission held that she was not an employee of the club and therefore not entitled to benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act. We agree. Lewis was nineteen years old and living in Charlotte, North Carolina at the time of her injury.
She danced three or four nights a week at a place called Club Nikki's in Charlotte. On two or three other nights a week, Lewis travelled around the Carolinas to dance in other clubs. Lewis's role as a dancer in these clubs is what most people would call being a stripper. The night Lewis was shot was the second or third night she danced at the Boom Boom Room. She had not danced there the night before, and she could not remember the previous time or times she was there.
Lewis presented several fellow exotic dancers as witnesses to explain that dancers often choose a city and a club to dance in on a particular night and travel there uninvited and unannounced.
She did not fill out an employment application and did not sign an employment agreement. At some point during the night, an altercation broke out in the club.
There was gunfire, and a stray bullet hit Lewis in the abdomen. She suffered serious injuries to her intestines, liver, pancreas, kidney, and uterus. Surgeons removed one kidney, and doctors informed her she may never be able to have children due to the injuries to her uterus.
