Model Alexia Palmer's lawsuit accused Trump Model Management LLC of racketeering, breach of contract, mail fraud and violating wage laws for immigrants over the agency's handling of her modeling contract. Ms Palmer was seeking $250,000 in back pay from the agency, arguing that she received just $3,880.05 in payment from Trump Model Management after being promised a $75,000 annual salary for her three-year contract. Trump Model Management was also accused of lying to a federal government agency by stating in a visa application lodged on Ms Palmer's behalf that she would be paid a full salary, an apparent requirement of the visa in question.
However, US District Court Judge Analisa Torres ruled last week that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Ms Palmer had worked enough hours over the three year period to justify a minimum hourly wage complaint or to warrant a wage payback by Trump Model Management. While Ms Palmer claims that she worked exclusively for Trump Model Management between 2011 and 2013, lawyers for the agency argued that her jobs with the agency amounted to just 10 full days of work over the three-year period.
Judge Torres also concluded that Ms Palmer had not provided proof that Trump Model Management had misrepresented how much she would be paid when applying for her visa.
The failed case is a blow for attorneys who were hoping to organise a larger class action lawsuit on behalf of other models. Such a move would have likely put the presidential hopeful's treatment of immigrant workers under the public microscope ahead of November's presidential election. Mr Trump launched the agency in 1999 and remains its owner and figurehead, though he was not directly named in Ms Palmer's lawsuit.
Source: The Fashion Law
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