Earlier today President Trump’s former driver filed a lawsuit “against the president’s company alleging he’s owed more than $200,000 in unpaid overtime wages.”
Have you ever worked for an employer who dragged their feet when payday came around? Fortunately, many jobs today are salaried or at least set you so you automatically get paid on a consistent schedule for the time you work in a given week. Unfortunately, there are the occasional employers that would otherwise try to get out of paying their workers for all the work they do, and apparently, our Commander-in-Chief is not immune from this, according to a recent lawsuit. Earlier today President Trump’s former driver filed a lawsuit “against the president’s company alleging he’s owed more than $200,000 in unpaid overtime wages.”
The suit was filed by Noel Cintron, 59, and argues that Trump and his business “exploited him in an utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement and without even a minimal sense of noblesse oblige by failing to pay for about 3,300 hours of overtime over the past six years.” It turns out that Cintron was employed as Trump’s driver “for more than 20 years until Republican Party nominated the former real estate mogul to be president and the Secret Service took over his transportation needs.” During his time as Trump’s driver, Cintron claims he was “required to be on duty for Trump beginning at 7 a.m. until his services were no longer required for the day.”
In total, the complaint alleges that Cintron worked an average of 55 hours per week but was “paid a fixed salary of $62,700 in 2003, $68,000 in 2006, and $75,000 in 2010.” Additionally, he was “induced to surrender his health insurance, saving Trump approximately $17,866 per year in premiums, as a condition of the 2010 raise,” according to the suit. He added, “President Trump’s further callousness and cupidity is further demonstrated by the fact that while he is purportedly a billionaire, he has not given his personal driver a meaningful raise in over 12 years.”
After Trump became president, Cintron took a security job with the Trump Organization and is still employed at the moment for the company. According to his lawyer, Larry Hutcher, Cintron has “asked Trump Organization executives to pay him the amount he was owed for overtime work but his request was denied.” When discussing his client and why he decided to file the lawsuit, Hutcher said:
“The proverbial straw hits the camel’s back. He finally says, ‘Enough is enough.'”
Currently, Cintron is seeking $350,000 in damages to help cover “unpaid wages, penalties, interest and attorneys’ fees.”
So how has the Trump Organization responded to the lawsuit? Well, so far a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, Amanda Miller, said “the company paid Cintron appropriately,” and added:
“Mr. Cintron was at all times paid generously and in accordance with the law. Once the facts come out we expect to be fully vindicated in court.”
Sources:
Trump’s former driver sues for unpaid overtime wages
President Trump’s personal driver for 25 years sues for unpaid overtime wages
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