California workers who are experiencing racial discrimination might sympathize with the allegations made by three black restaurant workers who filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Trump International Hotel. Their court filings indicate that management gave them undesirable shifts, mistreated them and allowed racist comments to go unchallenged.
The lawsuit named the luxury hotel’s parent company, now headed by the president’s son Donald Trump Jr., and the hotel managing director as defendants. One plaintiff, a bartender, said that he only received the lower-paying daytime shifts. The employer fired him for spilling a drink on a baby although he said that the company did not terminate a white server who spilled champagne on a bride’s dress.
Statements from the second plaintiff, a server, described employees of other races getting the lucrative shifts. Management honored requests from customers who did not want black servers and circulated a memo showing an ostrich chasing a black person. The third plaintiff claimed that a manager expressed approval for her lighter skin. She ultimately quit because management never scheduled her for shifts with the potential to earn high tips. A representative from the Trump Organization called the lawsuit a political stunt and dismissed its merits as a viable case.
Workplace discrimination violates laws meant to allow people to earn a living without harassment or unfair treatment based on personal characteristics. An attorney could help a person pursue damages that arise from wrongful termination, demotion or harassment. To prepare the case, an attorney could gather payroll records, internal correspondence and co-worker testimony.
Source: Color Lines, “Black Restaurant Workers Sue Trump Organization for Racial Discrimination“, Sameer Rao, Sept. 21, 2017
