Noel Cintron, 59, has worked as Donald Trump's personal driver for more than 25 years, but on Monday, he accused the US President Trump Organization of not paying 3,300 hours' worth of overtime in the past six years.
Cintron said he usually starts working at 7 a.m. in the morning and often worked 55 hours a week. According to Reuters, his overtime wages account for more than 178,000 US dollars, 54.09 US dollars per hour, and could have been higher were it not for New York state's statute of limitations policy. Cintron said Trump's company also cheated him out of vacation time and sick days for years. The total damages Cintron seeks are roughly 400,000 US dollars, which includes fines for federal and state labor law violations, his lawyer said.
Noel Cintron accused the US President Trump Organization on Monday. /Guancha Photo
Noel Cintron accused the US President Trump Organization on Monday. /Guancha Photo
Cintron‘s salary was 68,000 US dollars in 2006 and then raised to 75,000 US dollars in 2010, but to get it, he said that the Trump Company forced him to surrender his health benefits. A move that saved Trump nearly 18,000 US dollars in annual health insurance premiums per year.
Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Company disagrees with Cintron’s lawsuit, and explained that he was “at all times paid generously and in accordance with the law.” Reuters reported that she said in an email, “Once the facts come out we expect to be fully vindicated in court".
Cintron is disappointed in the Trump Organization. The lawsuit said, “In an utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement and without even a minimal sense of noble obligation, President Donald Trump has, through the defendant entities, exploited and denied significant wages to his own longstanding personal driver."
US President Donald Trump's motorcade departs from his home at Trump Tower. /VCG Photo
US President Donald Trump's motorcade departs from his home at Trump Tower. /VCG Photo
Larry Hutcher, Cintron's lawyer, said it was regrettable that his client did not sue earlier, and he didn't because he wasn't aware of his rights, and that the lawsuit is important for his client.
“President Trump’s further callousness and cupidity are 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.” Cintron wrote in the lawsuit.
“It’s ironic that President Trump, who portrays himself as an advocate of the working man, doesn’t see fit to pay his own driver a fair wage,” Hutcher said in an interview.