Jamaican Model Alexia Palmer Sues Trump Modeling Agency Over Mistreatment and Lost Wages.

Alexia Palmer


Model Alexia Palmer is suing her agency, Trump Models, claiming that the New York-based company, owned by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, took advantage her. Palmer says that the agency lured her to New York at the age of 17, but over the years, she saw little success and as much as 80% of her wages were taken by the agency.

She also claims, in the lawsuit, that she received only $3,880 plus cash advances totaling $1,100 over a three year period, despite the fact that Trump Model Management filed immigration documents to obtain a special work visa, called an H-1B, for her. According to the signed documents, the agency claimed that Palmer would be working “full-time” and would earn at least $75,000 a year. Under the terms of her Visa, Palmer could not work anywhere else during her time in the United States.

“That’s what slavery people do,” Palmer, now 22, told ABC News. “You work and don’t get no money.”

Palmer also says that the agency deducted thousands of dollars in fees from her wages. The fees were for a range of services that were provided to her, including a cell phone, test shoots, makeup, skincare, airfare to photo shoots, and car services.

The Trump Agency’s lawyers counter that Palmer worked “less than ten calendar days during her entire three year business relationship with [Trump Model Management] — an amount which indisputably sets her hourly wage well above the federal minimum wage.”

Palmer’s attorney, Naresh Gehi, said that he expects a number of other former Trump Model Management models to join the lawsuit. Gehi is also seeking to the have the suit certified as a class action on their behalf.