On September 20, three black employees filed a civil complaint in Washington, D.C. against the Trump Organization and the managing director of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., Mickael Damelincourt, The Washington Post reports.    

Two of the plaintiffs, Dominique Hill and JaNette Sturdivant, were formerly employed at the hotel's steakhouse, BLT Prime. The third plaintiff, Irving Smith Jr., remains employed at the restaurant.

All three have accused the restaurant of practicing racial discrimination against them and other black employees.

Smith, Hill and Sturdivant claim that both the Trump Organization and Damelincourt discriminated against them by assigning them only to daytime shifts, where they would not be able to earn as much as their white and Latinx colleagues, who the trio claim were always assigned to the night shift.

"They started hiring all these people, and instead of putting them on day shifts they was giving them night shifts and keeping us on day shift," Smith said. "Next thing I know, within the month all the black people were on the day shift.”

Hill and Smith were among the restaurant's first hires. At first, everything seemed fine, but after being moved to the day shift, Hill says his checks dropped to as little as $300 per week. “Some days, I would just stand there all day long and have no customers," he said.

Sturdivant alleges that when she joined BLT Prime, she was celebrated for having light skin.

“When I first came on board … the server manager said it’s good to see someone with Milano complexion here,” she said. However, despite that, she wasn't given any prime evening shifts either.

Smith and Hill were hired before Donald Trump became president. After his inaugeration, things became worse at work, Smith says.

A fellow employee "used to say ‘This is white America time, you need to get used to it, and if you don’t get used to it you should go work somewhere else,’” Smith said. The plaintiffs also allege that a racist cartoon was hung in the kitchen.

Hill was fired from his job for spilling a drink. He claims that white colleagues spilled drinks and received no punishment.

The Trump Organization called the trio's claims "utterly baseless," and pushed off any and all responsibility onto a third party company that runs the steakhouse, ESquared Hospitality.

“The plaintiffs worked for a third-party restaurant company that is solely responsible for the direction, supervision, and management of its own employees. In short, this lawsuit appears to be nothing more than a desperate, politically-motivated publicity stunt. We look forward to litigating this matter,” a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said.

ESquared told the Post that it was also not at fault, and that it "wholeheartedly" disagrees with the plaintiffs. The company also said that the employees “did not previously voice or file complaints through any of the proper channels.”

“Had they done so, BLT Prime would have immediately taken the alleged complaints seriously and investigated them to the fullest extent and would have taken appropriate action where warranted,” the company said.

In response to this claim, Hill shared documents detailing a discrimination charge he filed with the D.C. Office of Human Rights earlier this year. Members of that office and ESquared attorneys went over Hill's concerns in July.

The employee's lawyer, A.J. Dhali, believes that the three employees have a very strong case. Together, they are seeking $14.5 million in damages.