TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that exotic dancers are eligible for unemployment insurance.

The court's ruling Friday affirmed a Shawnee County District Court decision in a case that stemmed from a 2005 unemployment claim filed by a Club Orleans dancer.

The Topeka Capital-Journal (http://bit.ly/TrQIMb) reports that the Topeka club's owner, Milano's Inc., had argued that dancers are independent contractors. The argument was the dancers make their income off tips as opposed to being paid by the club.

Court papers showed Milano's stopped paying its dancers a nominal weekly wage shortly after buying Club Orleans in 2002.

But the court found the club exercised control over the dancers that constituted an employer-employee relationship. Those controls included rules regarding contact between dancers and customers and fines for violations of those rules.