Former Director for African American Outreach for the Trump Campaign Omarosa Manigault Newman joined a lawsuit against President Donald Trump accusing him of pay discrimination against women.
What We Know…
- The initial suit was filed by former Trump campaign employee Alva Johnson who claims Trump forcibly kissed her in 2016 and paid her less than her white male counterparts. White House employees have publically denied Johnson’s allegations claiming the campaign has never discriminated against employees.
- Though Newman isn’t alleging sexual misconduct, she is implicating Trump’s pattern of hiring and paying men and women unequally, paying women 20 percent less than their male counterparts.
- Newman is commenting on a trend exposed by “expert analysis” by economist Philip Johnson, who confirmed Newman’s estimations that women are indeed paid 18.2 percent less than their male coworkers.
- Newman filed court papers Monday, May 13 to join Johnson’s lawsuit. She references her coworker and Trump’s campaign adviser Bryan Lanza as being paid more than Newman for equivalent work.
- Johnson is looking to turn the case into a collective action suit on behalf of many other women who have worked on Trump’s campaign.
- Johnson is not the first person to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct since he came to office; former “The Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos filed a lawsuit claiming Trump groped her earlier this year.
- Trump not only claimed Zervos’s allegations were not true but argued he is immune to state court cases unrelated to his presidential duties. The courts denied this explaining this argument is unfounded and that the president can be tried for cases unrelated to his presidency.
Trump is no stranger to public allegations of sexual misconduct and discrimination; maybe Newman’s joining this case will give it the publicity and evidence it needs to move forward.
