NEW YORK (AP) — A former chauffeur for Republican President Donald Trump on Thursday dropped his lawsuit alleging he was not paid for thousands of hours of work.
Noel Cintron’s attorney, Larry Hutcher, said the case has been submitted to arbitration for resolution.
The Trump Organization had requested just such a result in papers filed in Manhattan federal court earlier this month.
Cintron sued the Trump Organization in July, but not Trump. Still, he accused him of “callousness” and greed.
The Trump Organization said then that Cintron was always “paid generously and in accordance with the law.” A lawyer for the business did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The lawsuit said Cintron was Trump’s driver for 20 years until the Secret Service took over in 2016.
His lawyer said after the lawsuit was filed that Cintron waited to sue because he wasn’t aware of all his legal rights and because he didn’t want to jeopardize his job.
The lawsuit alleged that Cintron routinely worked 50- to 55-hour weeks without overtime even though he was eligible for it. It said he made $75,000 annually since 2010, but lost his health insurance when his pay was raised from $68,000 that year.
In filing the lawsuit, he sought $170,000 in overtime alone, along with other costs and damages.
The Trump Organization filed papers earlier this month seeking to dismiss the lawsuit and force arbitration.
It said arbitration was required by an agreement signed by Cintron.
According to the court papers, Cintron had been employed by Trump Tower Commercial LLC, which owns and manages commercial areas of Trump Tower, since 1990. It said he had worked in various positions over the years, including manager and head of security.
The Trump Organization said in its filing that Cintron was required in June to sign papers requiring some disputes to be handled through arbitration. It said the papers were returned signed by Cintron in early July.
He did NOT drop the suit. It has been referred to arbitration. Almost certainly, he had no choice. He probably had to sign an arbitration agreement to get the job.
Forced arbitration is one of the great evils that workers face today. Republicans, naturally, think it’s great.
What did Chiselin’ Trump’s putter have to say about that?
He was required to sign papers requiring arbitration, in June, for disputes that might arise related to his twenty years of previous employment!?! How the hell does that work? Was he forced to sign the papers at gunpoint?
I wonder if the Cockholster Cabal will use a retired judge as the arbitrator; a common practice. Maybe they could find an inactive Senior United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Maybe somebody named, oh, I don’t know, Maryanne Trump Barry.
Ah, who am I kidding? The Trump Organization would never stoop to shady dealings like that. No. Never. Ever.
It doesn’t matter anyway because the arbitrator works for his/her client, in this case The Trump Organization.
In other words, Cintron is screwed regardless.
Worked for
Frank SinJohnny Fontaine.