Current and former employees of a restaurant in Trump International Hotel have filed a racial discrimination lawsuit in DC Superior Court.
The Washington Postreports two former employees and one current employee of BLT prime "allege that the Trump Organization and hotel managing director Mickael Damelincourt saw to it that the restaurant routinely steered black employees to less lucrative shifts and subjected them to discriminatory behavior by other staff and by guests."
The luxury hotel is located in the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, which the federal government's General Services Administration leased to Donald Trump for 60 years.
“They started hiring all these people and instead of putting them on day shifts they was giving them night shifts and keeping us on day shift," Irving Smith Jr. toldThe Post. "Next thing I know, within the month all the black people were on the day shift."
Trump Organization spokeperson Amanda Miller denied any culpability for racial discrimination at Trump International Hotel, claiming, "the plaintiffs worked for a third-party restaurant company that is solely responsible for the direction, supervision, and management of its own employees."
Smith Jr. claims he was subjected to racial statements and that management turned a blind eye to the misconduct.
“He used to say ‘This is white America time, you need to get used to it, and if you don’t get used to it you should go work somewhere else,’ ” Smith Jr. alleged.
“I would go to work crying and ask god why are you doing this? We were so comfortable and gave up everything to go to this place. And then to be treated like this," Smith Jr. complained.