Former Trump Hotel Housekeeper Sues Over Alleged Religious Discrimination

A former housekeeper at President Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel claims she was fired for refusing to work Sundays so she could attend church.

Sonia Perez, 56, said she worked at Trump International Hotel from 2010 to 2015 without incident, with Sundays off so she could attend religious services at her non-denominational Christian church. But after the employees unionized in 2018, Perez says in a lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Las Vegas federal court, her shift was changed to include Sundays.

Perez refused to come to work on Sundays “because of her sincerely held religious belief,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit comes a day after protesters were forcibly cleared from in front of the White House by police so Trump could walk to a nearby church and hold up a Bible for photographers.

The Trump Organization didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Perez said in her complaint she used accrued “attendance points” to make up for her Sunday absences, but when they ran out she said she was fired. In the lawsuit, Perez accused Trump Ruffin Commercial Inc., which runs the Trump hotels, of religious discrimination and failure to accommodate.