Three female chauffeurs awarded $130,000 after being fired by Saudi royal

Three female chauffeurs in the US have been awarded $130,000 each in a gender discrimination lawsuit, after claiming that a Saudi prince dismissed them because he ‘wanted no women drivers’.

The three women, Gretchen Cooper, Barbara Herold and Lisa Boutelle, were among 40 drivers hired in October 2010 to chauffeur Prince Abdul-Rahman bin Abdul-Aziz, his family and friends while the prince was being treated at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.



However, the Saudi prince and his large entourage told three limousine companies contracted to provide transportation during his month-long visit that they wanted only male drivers, according to the lawsuit.

When the female drivers along with their male colleagues picked up the party from the airport and brought them to the hotel, a witness overheard a man tell a representative of the limo company owner that Prince Abdul-Rahman ‘wanted no women drivers,’ according to the complaint.

The next day, Gretchen Cooper, one of the drivers, was told to remove her belongings from the limo as the prince wanted ‘no women drivers’, and was promptly replaced by a male chauffeur.



Cooper (pictured) and the other two female drivers were dismissed after just one day after being told that the prince wanted 'no female drivers' PHOTO: FACEBOOK VIA DAILY MAIL

The other two female drivers, Boutelle and Herold, were also fired from their job in a similar manner after being told by their employers that ‘their hands were tied’ and that they should not to take their termination personally.

The three women filed a lawsuit against the prince in 2012, alleging discrimination based on gender, and in November 2015 a federal judge ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, according to reporting by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

According to Courthouse News Service, it was later found that the only reason her clients were offered the job in the first place was because it was thought to be 'elegant' to have female drivers chauffeur 'ladies and kids' in the prince's train.



Further, Cooper revealed that she had previously chauffeured a Saudi princess Nura bint Abdallah bin Muhammad Al Saud al-Kabir and received $50 a day in tips alone, along with expensive gifts and free meals.

Some took to Twitter disapproving of the incident.

Female chauffeurs sue Saudi prince, limo company: Three fired female drivers filed gender discrimination complai... http://t.co/rtnyfuHJ

— Myrtle Burdess (@Myrtle_Burdess) January 4, 2013

https://twitter.com/PatriotMash/status/693134397348773888

Three female drivers win $130K each after they were fired because Saudi prince wanted only male drivers - New York… https://t.co/cIDNZlYVYe

— Women issues show (@Womenissuesshow) January 30, 2016

Three female drivers awarded $130K for being fired by #Saudi #prince #AbdulRahman https://t.co/xWpBwhuJyC via @MailOnline

— Arbab Zahid (@ArbabZahid) January 30, 2016

This article originally appeared on Daily Mail