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Supreme Court refuses union's appeal in Trump Taj Mahal bankruptcy

By Eric DuVall

WASHINGTON, May 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a New Jersey labor union's appeal of a bankruptcy court's decision to nullify the health insurance plan for employees of the Taj Mahal casino, formerly owned by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The case, Unite Here Local 54 v. Trump Entertainment Resorts, focuses on the bankruptcy proceedings for the Taj Mahal, a casino in Atlantic City, N.J., that Trump built in 1990. Trump has since given up ownership and management of the hotel and casino, though it still bears his name.

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The hotel's management group, which is controlled by billionaire Carl Ichan, cut union employees' health care and pension benefits in 2014, saying the Trump Taj Mahal was facing dire financial problems and would be forced out of business if it did not cut operating costs. The union sued in federal district court after a bankruptcy court judge allowed the cuts to stand, agreeing with management that if they had not been made, the casino would have gone bust.

A federal appeals court in Philadelphia upheld the lower court's decision and the union appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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In a lump with other High Court appeals requests Tuesday, the justices declined without explanation to hear the case, leaving in place the lower court ruling.

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