Undocumented employees at Trump club say they were told to work overtime with no pay

A golf cart at Trump National Golf Club Westchester.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Several undocumented immigrants who worked at Trump National Golf Club Westchester in New York say they were told by managers to clock out but continue working overtime without pay, The Washington Post reports.

The New York attorney general is investigating allegations that workers at the club did not receive their rightful pay, and prosecutors have interviewed 30 former employees, who also provided their pay stubs and W-2 forms, the Post says. Many of them were fired earlier this year, when the company started purging undocumented workers.

Jose Gabriel Juarez, who once served as the head waiter at the club's restaurant, the Grille Room, told the Post that after the restaurant closed for the night, his boss would order him to clock out but then stay to vacuum, polish silverware, and prep the restaurant for the next day's breakfast. Juarez was never paid for this overtime work, he said. "It was that way with all the managers," he told the Post. "Many of them told us, 'Just clock out and then stay and do the side work.' There was a lot of side work."

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Several former workers told the Post that the club knew they were undocumented and had used fake documents to gain employment, and because of their immigration status, they were denied promotions, health insurance, and vacation days. The Trump Organization denies knowingly employing undocumented immigrants. Read more about how the employees say they were treated, and what it was like when Trump showed up at the club, at The Washington Post.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.