Hm,
That Kathleen can tell a client off for touching her is on a whole different Level then commanding them to ignore a serious threat to their Security.
For every Person leaving the Club they would have to make sure this Person has no chance in ratting them out, (...)
Infact the threat to the security of the clubs' owners is much higher than the threat to the customers.
"Solicitation of prostitution" (that's what the clients are doing) is a misdemeanor for first offenders in most states punishable with fines ranging from 250$ in Kentucky to 6000$ in Alabama and/or community service in Minnesota and/or up to 10 days in prison/jail in Alaska and at the top Massachusetts with a maximum of 2.5 years in prison. The most common fines seem to be around 500$ to 1000$ and up to 1 year in jail or prison.
Any decent lawyer should be able to keep their client out of prison as a first offender.
The most serious impact "solicitation of prostitution" seems to have, is that a bunch of politicians and evangelists had to resign from their office, if we look at the more prominent cases of the last few years.
The owners, on the other hand, could face much more severe punishments. Pandering (that's pimping in common tongue), gambling, bribery, coercion, extortion, dealing in obscene matter and dealing in controlled substances, could set up a RICOH case punishable by up to 20 years in prison (if federal laws are involved).
Luckily if Chuck, August and Kathleen abstain from employing minors as prostitutes, abstain to import women from lets say Mexico or Thailand for prostitution and abstain to transport a prostitute willing to work for them from one US state to another or recruits them outside of their clubs state, the FBI, at least, won't give a damn.
33 US states, however, have implemented laws comparable to RICOH (so-called state RICOHs) to fight organized crime.
As you can see there is a lot more at stake for the owners than the clients, so the clients should trust the owners that they do their utmost to keep security as tight as possible in their own best interest.
I think you are also vastly overestimating the Clientele at the club.
Yes and No
Although the majority of the customers could be considered more C than B-Rank, at least the senator/congressman is A-Tier and definetly Kristoff Jameson, the CEO and owner of a mercenary enterprise. Those two wield real power.
However the most valuable client would be the chief of the LOCAL POLICE. Since Chuck, Auggie and Kat can keep the Federals out of their business, if they aren't dumb, and -spoiler- they are not, it all comes down to state laws they are breaking.
State Police in the USA, commonly known as 'Highway Patrol', are concerned mainly with traffic supervision on the interstates and highways and to a lesser degree involved in protecting the governor, the states parliament, training and qualification of police officers and supporting local polices should the need arise.
This means battling actual crime is left in the hands of the local police departments. Perhaps you can see now, how invaluable it is to pocket the chief of the local police. If they avoid to bribe him directly to -lets say- unlawfully incarcerate an US citizen, again the FBI should be out of the picture. But letting him partake in the club and perhaps even charge him a symbolic fee, so that he turns a blind eye on this business on his own accord, makes a federal bribery case very hard to set up.
It seems to be operating more on a you cant expose the club without ruining your own life basis
I am very much with you on that, i think the three owners have different powers, ranging from soft to lethal, at their disposal to ensure the compliance of former employees.
Lets have a look at Kathleen first.
I think receiving a call from her lawyer suggesting there could be a long, drawn out civil lawsuit over a damaged work uniform can already be enough to beat most former employees into submission. Double that if a non-disclosure agreement was signed at one point, and i would bet a ton they did.
There arent any good examples of August asserting his position as owner
Yes, no examples yet, except you can solve Rosies immediate money problem with his help.
He is intimately aquainted with someone we can only assume is a high-ranking member of the mob or another organized crime family.
There are few things more frightening than when your son is brought home from school by guy in a suit with a black necktie wishing you a good afternoon. Or when another guy in a suit with sunglasses is calling your daughter a beauty and patting her head and complimenting her soft hair. Or a not-so-friendly looking guy sitting in your kitchen when you arrive home and lectures you over the lousy quality of your coffee and suggests you should buy at least some beans of a decent origin. Arabica perhaps, from Guatemala.
When Chuck tells someone to shut up every customer quickly stops laughing and focuses their attention on him which again they would not have to do if they were the ones "in charge". He also is involved with at least one of the customers previously (involving missiles/rocket technology) (...).
Well, finally, this would be Chuck, who is chummy with Mr Kristoffer Jameson, the Merc Leader, whose business is to assess, engage and solve security issues on a large scale, who is chummy with Warren, the Security Chief of the Carnation Club, whose job is to assess, engage and solve security issues on a smaller scale. Given Warrens history with Kristoffers company i am confident he is capable to adress those issues properly.
