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Mar-a-Lago furloughs 153 servers, cooks because of virus

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club in Florida is temporarily laying off 153 workers because of the new coronavirus, according to a notice posted this week to a state website.

The club’s director of human resources, Janine Gill, wrote in a letter to state and local officials that Mar-a-Lago began halting business last month as a result of mandated closures issued in Palm Beach County in response to the virus’s spread in South Florida.

The furloughs are temporary but the club doesn’t know when it will resume regular operations, Gill said.

None of the workers are unionized.

It isn’t the only Trump resort in Florida to furlough workers.

The Trump National Doral Miami resort where President Donald Trump initially wanted to host this year’s Group of Seven summit also has temporarily laid off 560 workers.

The furloughed workers at Mar-a-Lago include bartenders, cooks, dishwashers, drivers, attendants, housekeepers, servers and valet attendants.

Mar-a-Lago serves as Trump’s refuge from Washington, and the president often spends his time there mixing work, business and pleasure in the company of dues-paying members.

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