Rick’s Cabaret, a strip club in Midtown Manhattan, owes more than $10 million in back pay to about 1,900 dancers who performed there without being paid hourly wages, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

The judge, Paul A. Engelmayer of the Southern District, had decided last year that Rick’s had treated the dancers as though they were employees and should have been paying them at least the minimum wage.

That decision set the stage for a trial in which the dancers are seeking at least $18.8 million in compensation.

The judge ruled on Friday that Rick’s must pay the dancers at least $10.8 million and possibly much more, depending on the outcome of the trial, which is set for early next year.