A superior court judge has ruled in favor of four former exotic dancers at a Salisbury club who argued that they were employees of the establishment and were entitled to minimum wage and other benefits, rather than independent contractors eligible for none of those perks, their attorney said yesterday.  Tod A. Cochran, the Boston-based lawyer for the former dancers at the Ten’s Show Club, said in a phone interview that Essex Superior Court Justice Maynard Kirpalani issued a ruling Monday stating that the dancers were in fact employees, rather than contractors. Cochran said the ruling means that each of the dancers, identified in court papers as Katherine Sandoval, Noel Van Wagner, Bonnie Griffin, and Amy Bloodgood are entitled to more than $40,000 each in back pay.  An attorney for the club, Arthur P. Skarmeas of Topsfield, did not immediately return a call seeking comment yesterday.

Cochran said it is not yet clear whether the club plans to enter settlement talks or take the case to trial to establish damages. He said he has been able to reach only one of his clients to inform her about the ruling. He would not identify the woman.  “I will tell you that one of the named plaintiffs was thrilled when I told her about the result,’’ Cochran said. None of the former dancers could be reached for comment yesterday.  In 2009, Van Wagner told the Globe that when she began dancing about 17 years ago, she typically received a modest wage or no salary at all. But she earned so much in tips, $300 to $800 per shift, that she did not mind paying the club between $10 and $20 to dance each night.  But the economy had severely cut into her tips in recent years, she said. Coupled with higher performance fees and other charges, she said, dancers sometimes earned barely enough to make a shift worthwhile. (click on link to read full story)