Trump’s Personal Chauffeur Sues President’s Company Over Unpaid Overtime Wages

President Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, is being sued by his former chauffeur of 25 years for failing to pay overtime wages, according to a story in the New York Law Journal. In a lawsuit filed on Monday, July 9, 2018, Noel Cintron accuses his former employer of playing out an “utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement.”

Chauffeur Accuses Trump Of Stiffing Him On Overtime, Expenses

The blistering complaint says Trump failed to pay Cintron for vacation and sick days, never reimbursed the chauffeur’s expenses and failed to record his hours worked properly. The chauffeur claims that all of these alleged failures are violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and New York’s strong pro-worker labor laws.

Noel Cintron drove Trump, his family and business employees around for 25 years. But in reality, even though Trump ran for president as a populist, “nothing could be further from the truth,” Cintron’s attorney says in a press release. “A complete disregard for the rights of workers has defined his disgraceful record in business,” according to Larry Hutcher, who is representing Cintron in the wage and hour action.

3,300 Hours Of Unpaid Overtime

Hutcher says that Cintron is owed for 3,300 hours of unpaid overtime in the last six years, which is the maximum suable amount allowed by New York’s overtime statute of limitations. At a rate of $54.09 per hour, Reuters reports, Cintron believes he is owed over $178,000 in overtime wages alone.

Trump is now driven by members of the Secret Service. During his tenure as the future-President’s driver, Cintron says he usually worked between 50 and 55 hours per week, which would put him above the Fair Labor Standards Act’s 40-hour threshold for overtime wages. Cintron says he now works as part of Trump’s security staff.

No Raise In 12 Years

And, while Cintron’s salary is not a matter of federal law, the former driver accuses Trump of refusing to give him a raise for 12 years. Cintron says his salary was increased to $68,000 in 2006. A raise to $75,000 in 2010, Cintron claims, came in exchange for the loss of his health benefits, which saved Trump nearly $18,000 in health insurance premiums every year.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization called the lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court, “frivolous,” Fortune writes. Cintron was paid “generously and in accordance with the law,” the spokesperson said, adding that “once the facts come out [the Trump Organization] expect[s] to be fully vindicated in court.”

Long History Of Labor Disputes

But this isn’t the first time Trump has been accused of stiffing his workers. The President’s myriad business dealings have long been trailed by controversy over his practice of underpaying contractors for their work. That’s illegal, but due to some quirks of American contract law, a rare but possible outcome for contractors who work on hotels.

Apparently, it’s a quirk that Trump has frequently taken advantage of. The President has been sued numerous times in the past, by everyone from mortgage brokers to landscapers.