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 Alexia Palmer accuses Trump Model Management LLC of lying to the
federal government in its work-visa application that said she would
be paid a $75,000-a-year salary while living in the United States,
according to court documents.
Instead, according to court papers, Palmer received a total of
$3,880.75 during the three years she was under contract with the
agency. The complaint alleges “fraudulent misrepresentation” and
violations of U.S. immigration and labor laws. It asks for $225,000
in back pay.
The suit was originally filed in October 2014. A decision on a
pending motion by Trump Model Management to dismiss is expected by
the end of March, the clerk for Judge Analisa Torres, who is
presiding over the case in the U.S District Court, Southern
District, told Reuters.
If Torres rules the case can proceed, it could revive attention on
Trump’s foreign labor practices at a time when the celebrity
billionaire's rise in American politics has riveted the world’s
attention.
 Trump’s lawyers have called the case "frivolous" and "without
merit." In court documents, they said Palmer wasn’t an employee and
was more than adequately compensated for a “very brief stint as a
fashion model,” which they say amounted to less than 10 days of work
over three years.
Reuters could not independently confirm that assertion.
“At the end of the day, this model just didn’t have a successful
career, and we fully expect to win,” said Lawrence Rosen, a lawyer
for Trump Model Management.
Although Trump owns the modeling agency, the suit does not name him.
Trump's campaign spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, said in a statement that
Trump Model Management's treatment of Palmer was in line with
"standard practice in the modeling industry."
Palmer's lawyer, Naresh Gehi, says his client was cheated of
earnings and seduced by a life of glamour that never materialized.
"The visa application the company filed with the government requires
that people are paid the full amount," Gehi said. "It’s a
requirement.”
Palmer, who was 17 when she came to New York in 2011, was not
available to comment.
TOP JAMAICAN MODEL
Sylvia Ayass, a lawyer who has worked with models on visas like
Palmer's, said agencies typically pay what they state on visa
applications.
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Trump has won Republican frontrunner status in the 2016 election in
large part by positioning himself as a champion of the American
worker who will deport illegal immigrants, build a wall with Mexico
and do away with the off shoring of U.S. jobs.
This is not the first time Trump's labor practices have drawn
criticism. A Reuters story published in August revealed that Trump's
companies sought to import at least 1,100 workers on temporary visas
since 2000. Of those, 250 were filed for foreign fashion models,
according to the Reuters analysis of federal Department of Labor
data.
Using a federal visa program called H-1B that allows U.S. employers
to hire "specialized" foreign labor, Trump's modeling agency offered
Palmer "at least $75,000 per year" for three years. It listed that
salary on her H-1B visa application in 2011, according to the court
documents reviewed by Reuters.
Rosen, the lawyer for Trump Model Management, said the $75,000 a
year figure was simply a guess, not a guarantee.
Under that contract, Palmer agreed "to promptly reimburse" Trump
Model Management "for any and all costs and expenses" that the
agency incurred relating to her modeling.
According to the suit, the agreement stipulated that Trump Model
Management would take a 20 percent cut of Palmer’s earnings but
instead took 80 percent by deducting charges for everything from
postage to walking lessons to mobile phone costs and limousine
rides, as well as $4,000 in "administrative fees," according to
court documents.
The suit said it was seeking class-action status to represent other
models who believe they were misled and underpaid after coming to
the United States with sponsorship from Trump’s modeling agency.
(Additional reporting by Rebekah Kebede in Jamaica. Editing by Jason
Szep and Ross Colvin)
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