During last night’s debate, Hillary mentioned that Donald Trump has a long record of stiffing many, many small businesses and she mentioned there was an architect in the audience that was one of his many, many victims.
Meet architect Andrew Tesoro, who was stiffed out of $100,000 dollars and watch in the videos below how Trump’s decision to stiff him affected his life.
Trump has repeatedly stiffed small business owners throughout his business career.
Thanks to Tamar for sharing this tweet!
www.rawstory.com/...
“Did he pay you on time?” asked anchor Craig Melvin.
“No, he didn’t. He paid partially along the way and the project snowballed over a four year period and our role in the project snowballed as well,” Tesoro explained. “We became very much involved in interior design and construction stage work. We made many supplemental agreements as we went along and in the end those agreements were not honored.”
When pressed by Melvin to say how much money Donald Trump still owes him a decade later, Tesoro answered, “I wound not expect to be paid at this late date. Mr. Trump had his chance to pay his bill ten years ago.”
Finally, he said, “It was a considerable sum of money, probably in excess of $100,000 that we were left short at the end of the project.”
www.hillaryclinton.com/…
Tesoro’s story isn’t unique: According to a USA Today investigation, Trump has been involved in more than 3,500 lawsuits over the past 30 years—“and a large number of those involve ordinary Americans … who say Trump or his companies have refused to pay them.” For the most part, we’re not talking about millionaires or business tycoons: The list of people who have accused Trump of failing to pay them for their work includes dishwashers, plumbers, painters, waiters, and bartenders.
This isn’t ancient history either: Just two months ago, Trump’s company settled with 48 waiters at his Miami golf resort after failing to pay overtime for an event. The settlements averaged about $800 per worker—a negligible sum for a multimillion-dollar company like Trump’s.
The stories are troubling—and telling—in their consistency. Together, they paint a clear picture of how Trump operates: refusing to pay the small businesses that have helped keep his own business empire running—and then tying them up in court or in negotiations until they give up, settle for less, or go bankrupt or out of business.
Or, as Tesoro puts it: “[Trump’s] definition of winning is making sure the other guy loses, and that way of doing business is just not very fair to the little guy.”
4,000 lawsuits and counting for Trump.
www.usatoday.com/…
In early June, the analysis had found at least 3,500 cases — a figure that has now surpassed 4,000 — and today we're releasing a new interactive tool that lets you explore more than three decades of court actions by and against Trump and his companies.
Trump uses the lawsuits to negotiate throughout his business relationships. He turns to litigation to distance himself from failing projects that relied on the Trump brand. And he uses the legal system to haggle over his property bills and contracts with vendors.
