Trump hit with homophobic discrimination lawsuit from gay former employee
One of Donald Trump’s businesses is facing a lawsuit from a gay ex-employee who alleges he was sacked after complaining about homophobic harassment.
The case was brought by Eleazar Andres, a former employee at the Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey.
Mr Andres says that after he came out in 2014, he was frequently targeted with homophobic slurs from co-workers.
He alleges that supervisors witnessed him being referred to as a “faggot” and “maricón”, but did nothing to stop it.
According to Slate, the harassment turned violent during one incident, when a co-worker threw a rock at his head, hospitalising him.
The former employee says the Trump National Golf Club violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws by fostering a hostile work environment based on sexual orientation, and is also suing well as discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The lawsuit alleges that the club is responsible for “the acts constituting hostile work environment” and “sexual orientation harassment” as it had failed to “implement any preventative or remedial measures to protect against unlawful harassment”.
He contends that managers had displayed “egregious” and “wilful indifference” to his complaints of abuse, alleging that they terminated his employment as a result of the complaints.
The Trump National Golf Course contests the claims. The case is currently in court-mandated mediation.
