--- description: Donald Trump quietly paid $1.4 million in 1998 to settle a class-action lawsuit over underpaying undocumented Polish laborers. title: Read the Legal Settlement Donald Trump Signed in Dispute Over Undocumented Workers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt16bd2f818ddba98d/6988bb25f887dc72abe99255/trump2.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Donald Trump Paid $1.4 Million in a Dispute Over Undocumented Workers. Read the Newly Unsealed Legal Papers by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2017 7:19 PM CUT  The signage above the entrance to the Trump Tower in New York City on Jan. 21, 2017. The signage above the entrance to the Trump Tower in New York City on Jan. 21, 2017.Epics / Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 28, 2017 7:19 PM CUT 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 "undefined") to make way for [Trump Tower](http://time.com/4578832/meet-the-people-hanging-out-in-donald-trumps-lobby/ "undefined"). 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 "undefined") 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/ "undefined"), 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/ "undefined"), 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 "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Plaintiffs Affidavit](https://www.scribd.com/document/365767946/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Plaintiffs-Affidavit#from%5Fembed "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") 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 "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Plaintiffs Memorandum](https://www.scribd.com/document/365753713/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Plaintiffs-Memorandum#from%5Fembed "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Court Order](https://www.scribd.com/document/365768932/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Court-Order#from%5Fembed "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Legal Settlement](https://www.scribd.com/document/365752865/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Legal-Settlement#from%5Fembed "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Demolition Transcript](https://www.scribd.com/document/365769217/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Demolition-Transcript#from%5Fembed "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd [Donald Trump Bonwit Teller Amended Order](https://www.scribd.com/document/365769074/Donald-Trump-Bonwit-Teller-Amended-Order#from%5Fembed "undefined") by [TIME](https://www.scribd.com/user/219212029/TIME#from%5Fembed "undefined") on Scribd ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5039109/donald-trump-undocumented-polish-trump-tower-bonwit-teller/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5039109/donald-trump-undocumented-polish-trump-tower-bonwit-teller/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Paid $1.4 Million in a Dispute Over Undocumented Workers. 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