Top Jamaican-Born Model, Alexia Palmer, Sues Trump-Owned Talent Agency

Alexia Palmer, a Jamaican-born model, has filed a lawsuit against Trump Model Management, a talent agency founded by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump in 1999, for $225,000, accusing the organization of breach of contract, mail fraud, and violations of wage laws for immigrants. Originally filed in October of 2014, the suit claims that the Trump agency lied to the federal government and stated on Palmer’s work visa application that she would receive $75,000 per year in salary while she lived in the U.S. Palmer says she worked exclusively for the Trump agency between 2011 and 2013 but received a total of just $3,880 over the three years after the agency took out a 20-percent handling fee in addition to “insignificant expenses.” Palmer will hear from a U.S. district court judge by the end of March 2016 about whether the suit will be dismissed or not. Lawyers for Trump call the lawsuit “frivolous” and say that Palmer only worked for the agency for ten days over the three years. If the case proceeds, it will focus attention on Donald Trump’s immigrant employment practices. Palmer was discovered by a Jamaican agency’s Caribbean Model Search and became the first Jamaican model to appear in Vogue magazine without being signed by a global fashion label. Palmer moved to New York in 2011.