A former employee of Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit alleging systemic mistreatment of women at the high-profile golf resort, including sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation after reporting misconduct.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, January 12, in New Jersey Superior Court in Morristown, was brought by Maria Hadley, who worked at the Lamington Road club from February to August 2025 as an events team worker and banquet server. Hadley is seeking unspecified monetary damages.
According to the complaint, Hadley says she “endured open gender bias, routine sexual harassment and steady retaliation” during her employment at the club. The suit alleges that female workers were treated as “nothing but a prop,” expected to maintain a pleasing appearance, work without complaint and tolerate inappropriate behavior from supervisors and club members.
Among the allegations, Hadley claims she was issued uniforms that were significantly undersized and revealing. When she asked a male supervisor for a larger size, the lawsuit alleges he refused, telling her, “If they don’t fit, you don’t work.” The complaint says Hadley was forced to wear the ill-fitting clothing until a female colleague discreetly helped her obtain larger sizes.
The lawsuit further alleges that when Hadley reported being touched on the buttocks by a club guest, a supervisor attempted to silence her, allegedly telling her to ignore the incident because members “pay a lot of money” to be there.
In another incident detailed in the complaint, Hadley says an underage female employee told her that a male bartender had poured alcohol into her Shirley Temple without her consent, allegedly telling her it would “give her energy.” Hadley reported the matter to management, but the suit claims the bartender later contacted the underage employee, revealing that Hadley had made the complaint.
While the bartender was temporarily terminated, the lawsuit alleges that club supervisors then began retaliating against Hadley. According to the filing, she was ostracized by management, stripped of her normal duties, reassigned to back-of-house work such as folding napkins and polishing silverware, and had her hours significantly reduced.
The complaint states that Hadley raised concerns about the alleged retaliation with supervisors, but no corrective action was taken. Eventually, she informed the club that she could no longer continue working under those conditions. The lawsuit alleges that Trump National treated her departure as a resignation and used it to force her out rather than investigate her claims.
Hadley’s suit names Trump National Golf Club as a defendant and lists four counts: sexual harassment, gender discrimination and hostile work environment; retaliation and improper reprisal; retaliation in violation of New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA); and constructive termination.
The allegations outlined in the lawsuit have not yet been tested in court. Trump National Golf Club has not publicly responded to the claims at the time of publication.
