A former paid campaign field organizer for Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has filed a complaint accusing the campaign of sex discrimination.
Elizabeth Mae Davidson, who was fired from her job in Iowa this month, said in a filing to the Davenport Civil Rights Commission that men who worked for Trump were paid more than women for doing the same job and were given the opportunity to speak at rallies, while her requests to do so were ignored.
The New York Times reported on the discrimination complaint on Sunday, a day before the first-in-the-nation caucus in Iowa.
Davidson’s complaint says that she was paid $2,000 per month while men with her same job title were paid more. She said she was terminated for breaking a nondisclosure clause in her employment agreement and because she made “disparaging” comments about Trump campaign leaders to “third parties.” She said that men working on the campaign who talked to the press were not penalized.
Davidson also said that when she and a female volunteer talked to Trump at a rally last summer, he told them, “You guys could do a lot of damage.” Davidson said that was a reference to how the women looked.
In a phone call with the Times, Trump denied making that comment but did not address Davidson’s other allegations.