Trump’s personal driver sues for unpaid overtime wages

Team Udayavani, Jul 10, 2018, 6:07 PM IST

New York: Donald Trump’s personal chauffeur for over 20 years has filed a lawsuit against him, alleging that the US President owes him a whopping sum of  USD 200,000 in unpaid overtime wages.

Noel Cintron, 59, claims in a Manhattan Supreme Court suit filed yesterday that, “In an utterly callous display of unwarranted privilege and entitlement Trump exploited and denied significant wages to his own longstanding personal driver”.

According to court papers, Cintron served as President Trump’s personal driver for more than 20 years until mid-2016, when the real estate tycoon became the Republican presidential nominee and the Secret Service took over.

In his suit, Cintron says he would start at 7 am and stay on duty until the Trump family no longer needed him in the evening. That added up to at least 50 hours a week, ‘The Washington Post’ reported.

Cintron is suing for about USD 350,000 which would cover the unpaid wages, penalties, interest and attorneys’ fees, Hutcher said.

In his lawsuit, Cintron alleges “he was forced to work thousands of hours of overtime without compensation. 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!”.

Asked about the allegations, Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said in a statement that “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”.

Trump has faced at least 135 lawsuits against him while serving as commander in chief, including from private citizens who have sued him for his business dealings and behaviour prior to the White House.