--- title: Donald Trump Paid $1.4 Million Over Undocumented Workers description: Donald Trump quietly paid $1.4 million in 1998 to settle a class-action lawsuit over underpaying undocumented Polish laborers. canonical: https://time.com/5039109/donald-trump-undocumented-polish-trump-tower-bonwit-teller/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-28T19:19:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:32:59.786Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Legal Settlement Donald Trump Signed in Dispute Over Undocumented Workers og:description: He paid $1.4 million to settle the class-action lawsuit. og:url: https://time.com/5039109/donald-trump-undocumented-polish-trump-tower-bonwit-teller/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16bd2f818ddba98d/6988bb25f887dc72abe99255/trump2.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Trump Tower Entrance og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Legal Settlement Donald Trump Signed in Dispute Over Undocumented Workers twitter:description: He paid $1.4 million to settle the class-action lawsuit. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16bd2f818ddba98d/6988bb25f887dc72abe99255/trump2.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Paid $1.4 Million in a Dispute Over Undocumented Workers. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=48afea63-df43-4be1-bbe8-e3514259a312&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here's What President Trump Has Said About DACA in the Past [Watch (HLS stream): Here's What President Trump Has Said About DACA in the Past](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/28JWtZVy.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-05. The Trump Administration announced Tuesday it will phase out the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA_ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Nov 28, 2017 7:19 PM UTC The Trump Administration announced Tuesday it will phase out the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Nov 28, 2017 7:19 PM UTC Donald Trump quietly paid $1.4 million in 1998 to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged he stiffed a union pension fund by employing undocumented Polish laborers to [demolish a department store](http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,40405,00.html) to make way for [Trump Tower](http://time.com/4578832/meet-the-people-hanging-out-in-donald-trumps-lobby/). The amount became public this week after a judge released previously sealed settlement documents in response to a motion filed by Time Inc. and the [Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press](https://www.rcfp.org) in 2016. “This Order shall remain confidential in accordance with the parties’ agreement at the October 26, 1998 settlement conference,” reads the settlement agreement, which was signed on Dec. 30, 1998, by District Court Judge Thomas P. Griesa of New York’s Southern District. The [case originated in the summer of 1980](http://time.com/4465744/donald-trump-undocumented-workers/), when Trump was under pressure to finish the demolition of the Bonwit Teller building on Fifth Avenue in New York City so that he could begin construction on his signature project, the Trump Tower. As noted in [an Aug. 25, 2016, story in TIME](http://time.com/4465744/donald-trump-undocumented-workers/), Trump hired a group of undocumented Polish laborers who put in “12-hour shifts with inadequate safety equipment at subpar wages that their contractor paid sporadically, if at all.” Their hiring led to years-long litigation that Trump finally settled in 1998. Read the plaintiffs’ memoranda in support of a settlement, the notice of a motion on the case, a transcript of a conference on the settlement and the settlement below. [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Memorandum in Support](https://www.scribd.com/document/365766750/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Memorandum-in-Support#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Plaintiffs Affidavit](https://www.scribd.com/document/365767946/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Plaintiffs-Affidavit#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Notice of Motion](https://www.scribd.com/document/365754133/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Notice-of-Motion#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Plaintiffs Memorandum](https://www.scribd.com/document/365753713/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Plaintiffs-Memorandum#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Court Order](https://www.scribd.com/document/365768932/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Court-Order#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Legal Settlement](https://www.scribd.com/document/365752865/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Legal-Settlement#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Transcript](https://www.scribd.com/document/365769217/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Transcript#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Amended Order](https://www.scribd.com/document/365769074/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Amended-Order#from%5Fembed) by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed) on Scribd ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:05] I will immediately terminate President [00:10] Obama's illegal executive order on immigration. [00:15] Immediately. We will immediately terminate President [00:19] Obama's Two illegal executive amnesties, [00:24] in which he defied federal law and the Constitution [00:28] to give amnity to approximately 5 million [00:33] illegal immigrants. Five million. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [00:39] They [00:46] shouldn't be very worried, they are here illegally. They [00:48] shouldn't be very worried. I do have a big heart. We're [00:51] going to take care of everybody. We're going to have a [00:53] very strong border. We're gonna have a very solid [00:56] border. Where you have great people that are here [00:58] that have done a good job, they should be far less [01:00] worried. We're gonna show great heart. DACA is a [01:03] very, very difficult subject for me. I will tell you. To me, [01:06] it's one of the most difficult subjects I have. But you [01:08] have some absolutely incredible kids, I would say [01:12] mostly. They were brought here in such a way. [01:17] It's a very, very tough subject. We are going to deal [01:20] with DACA with heart. I have to deal with a lot of [01:22] politicians, don't forget. And I have to convince them [01:25] that what I'm saying is right. It's a very [01:29] difficult thing for me because I love [01:33] these kids. I love kids. I have kids and grandkids. And [01:38] I find it very, very hard doing what the law says exactly [01:42] to do. [01:49] Well, I have a great heart for the folks we're talking [01:52] about. A great love for them. I have a love for these [01:56] people, and hopefully now Congress will be able to [01:59] help them, and do it Properly. And, really, we have no [02:02] choice. We have to be able to do something, and I [02:04] think it's going to work out very well. And, long- term, [02:07] it's gonna be the right solution. 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