Gay employee suing Trump National Golf Club for discrimination
Employee claims he was pelted with rocks and golf balls after coming out, and his supervisors did nothing
A former employee of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s National Golf Club in Pine Hill, N.J., is suing the club, alleging he was discriminated against because of his sexual orientation.
Eleazar Andres, of Lindenwold, N.J., claims he was fired after complaining that co-workers physically assaulted him and called him a gay slur.
Andres has sued under New Jersey’s law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, NJ Advance Media reports.
Andres claims he was harassed after coming out at work in May 2014. He says his fellow employees started calling him “faggot” and threw rocks and golf balls at him, while his supervisor did nothing to stop the abuse.
According to Andres, he had to leave his job for medical treatment after being hit by a rock thrown by a co-worker. When a second supervisor refused to take action, Andres filed a police report and said he did not feel safe coming to work. Soon after, he was terminated from his job.
Both the lawyer for Pine Hill golf club and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
But Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pounced on the news, mentioning Andres’ story and slamming Trump while she was campaigning in New Hampshire.
“It is deeply disturbing that instead of stepping in to stop the tormentors, Trump’s golf club turned on the victim for coming forward,” Clinton said. “If that’s how Donald Trump runs his business, what does that say about how he would run our country?”
Following the mass shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub in June, Trump has tried to reach out to LGBT voters to convince them that he is the best candidate for them, as he will do a better job protecting them from radical Islamic terrorism than Clinton will.
While Trump advocates, particularly those in the LGBT community, have commended the business mogul for being the most pro-LGBT Republican nominee in history, Trump as also been criticized for taking a “hands off” approach while his party approved one of the most anti-LGBT convention platforms in the party’s history.
But left-leaning groups, particularly the Human Rights Campaign — which has endorsed Clinton — have pointed out that there is no substance when it comes to Trump’s position on LGBT rights.
They also point out the nominee’s decision to surround himself with staffers and advisers with a history of anti-LGBT activism, including former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Gov. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas). In 2011, Trump himself once compared gay marriage to ugly putters.
“A lot of people…are switching to these really long putters, very unattractive…” Trump said. “It’s weird. You see these great players with these really long putters, because they can’t sink three-footers anymore. And, I hate it. I am a traditionalist. I have so many fabulous friends who happen to be gay, but I am a traditionalist.”
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