Omarosa asks to join pay-bias suit
Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman asked to add her name to a lawsuit Monday accusing President Trump’s 2016 campaign of violating labor laws by paying female staffers nearly 20% less than their male colleagues.
The B-list celebrity and onetime Trump loyalist, who flipped on the president after being unceremoniously booted from the White House in January 2018, filed papers in a Florida federal court backing up fellow ex-campaign aide Alva Johnson’s allegations that women were severely underpaid.
According to Federal Election Commission data cited in the suit, female staffers on Trump’s 2016 bid were paid $3,865 per month while men pocketed $4,568 on average — an 18.2% gap.
“While I strongly suspected I was subjected to pay discrimination while with the Trump campaign, I have since seen expert analysis confirming this to be true. The numbers don’t lie,” Manigault Newman (photo) told the Daily News.
Kayleigh McEnany, the press secretary of Trump’s 2020 bid, denied the campaign underpaid women but wouldn’t comment on any of the lawsuit’s specific allegations.
“The Trump campaign has never discriminated based on race, ethnicity, gender or any other basis. Any allegation suggesting otherwise is off base and unfounded,” McEnany said.
The FEC declined to comment.
Manigault Newman stated in a sworn affidavit that she earned $14,000 per month throughout the campaign while her co-worker, Bryan Lanza, received $19,000 “despite being similarly situated.”
Johnson and Manigault Newman charge that the Trump campaign’s alleged gender discrimination violated the Equal Pay Act.
The two ex-Trump aides are seeking class action and said they’re hoping their lawsuit encourages other female Trump staffers to speak out.