What It’s Like to Receive a Settlement Check From Donald Trump

The Trump Organization is paying up after a class-action lawsuit claimed his company stiffed caterers out of their tips

Andrea González-Ramírez
GEN

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Photo: Kris Connor/Contributor/Getty Images Entertainment

AAndrew Redlawsk thinks it’s bizarre he kicked off the new year by receiving a check for $944.72 from the Trump Organization. “When you find out that a guy worth billions is stealing tips from people who are just trying to feed their kids and put food on the table, it’s unreal honestly,” he said. “And then the other part of that is like it’s not just a billionaire — it’s the president.”

Donald Trump has been long famous for his ongoing legal troubles. (As of June 2016, he had been involved in at least 3,500 legal actions over three decades.) Among them was a lawsuit by a former catering staffer named Deborah Garcia, who in 2015 sued Trump and his children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, claiming the Trump Organization stiffed her and other service workers out of tips.

Garcia said the company pocketed a mandatory 22% service fee on events at the hotel Trump SoHo — a charge customers likely assumed was meant as gratuity. She alleged she was paid $15 an hour, but never received any tips. New York law prohibits employers from retaining workers’ tips or fees “purported to be a gratuity.” The state also…

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Andrea González-Ramírez
GEN
Writer for

Award-winning Puerto Rican journalist. Senior Writer at New York Magazine’s The Cut. Formerly GEN, Refinery29, and more. Read my work: https://www.thecut.com/