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An exotic dancer who was shot at a Columbia, S.C., nightclub is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for her injury, according to a ruling by the state’s highest court.

The State newspaper reported that the South Carolina Supreme Court made that ruling in March in the case of LeAndra Lewis, stating that Lewis was an employee of the Boom Boom Room Studio 54, not an independent contractor, when she was hit by a stray bullet after a fight broke out at the club in 2008. That distinction makes her eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits.

The justices sent the question of how much Lewis should be compensated for her injuries back to the Court of Appeals. Court records show Lewis suffered harm to her organs that resulted in the loss of a kidney.

Among other things, the club chose Lewis’ dance music and required her to perform dances for certain customers, the court wrote. The club also supplied a place for her to dance and barred Lewis from leaving work early without risk of a fine.

“This is a message to employers of this industry that, if they are going to bring young, often uneducated laborers into this industry to make huge profits, then they need to have workers’ compensation to cover these unforeseen accidents,” said her attorney Charles Burnette.

Topics Legislation Workers' Compensation South Carolina