Alice Little, Nevada’s premiere and highest-paid courtesan, filed a lawsuit against Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak on Monday over the continued closure of the state’s legal brothels due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her complaint, filed by Randazza Legal Group, Little claims that sex workers have been treated unfairly as massage parlors, tattoo shops, hair salons and other high-contact businesses have been allowed to reopen while brothels remain closed. Meanwhile, her sex worker license is a property interest that Sisolak has unlawfully seized in his zeal to please out-of-state interests.
Little argues this is a violation of her right to equal protection and to earn a living under the Nevada Constitution. Further, she asserts that Sisolak’s order impedes her right and the right of her clients to maintain intimate relationships. Little and her counterparts are unable to meet with their clients because paid sex work is illegal outside of licensed brothels.
“By shutting down all legal sexual contact between sex workers and their clients, including many long-standing relationships with clients, Plaintiff is prohibited from entering into and maintaining certain intimate and private relationships in violation of the Freedom of Association guarantee of the Nevada Constitution.”
On March 17, the governor ordered all nonessential businesses in the state to shut down due to COVID-19, including brothels. In the past few months, he has allowed other non-essential high contact businesses to resume operations.
Sisolak said during an interview in October at The Nevada Independent’s IndyFest conference that he has little interest in addressing brothels while other sectors are still trying to navigate reopening.
“Certainly we’re going to have to look at getting kids back into schools before we look at getting folks back into brothels,” he said. “We’ll be addressing it sometime, certainly, but it’s not in the immediate future.”
Little is asking Sisolak to rescind his executive order and other actions that have closed legal brothels. Alternatively, she asks that the state of Nevada allow legal sex workers to utilize their licenses to conduct their trade out of their own residences or in private locations as long as they regularly clean and follow COVID-19 guidelines.
This Case in the News
Nevada sex worker sues over pandemic shutdown of brothels
The Review Journal explains the lawsuit against Gov. Sisolak and the demands made by Alice Little.
Sex worker at Nevada brothel files lawsuit against Gov. Sisolak
ABC 13 covers the lawsuit filed by Alice Little.
Nevada sex worker sues Gov. Sisolak for refusing to re-open brothels
News 3 discusses the complaint filed by Alice Little against Gov. Sisolak.
As Nevada’s legal brothels remain closed, sex workers think bias is at play
The Nevada Independent explores how COVID-19 mandated closures have affected the legal sex industry in Nevada featuring interviews with Alice Little and others in the industry.
