About 10,000 au pairs to get paid in class-action settlement

Business

About 10,000 au pairs to get paid in class-action settlement

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press

July 18, 2019 12:42 PM

ORDER REPRINT

FILE – In this Dec. 20, 2018 file photo attorneys, from left, David Seligman, Nina DiSalvo and Alexander Hood, of Towards Justice, pose outside the organization’s office east of downtown Denver. Low paid childcare workers from around the world could soon learn whether they will be getting payments from a proposed $65.5 million class action settlement. A federal judge in Denver is scheduled to hold a hearing Thursday, July 18, 2019, on whether to grant final approval to the deal, which was announced in January.


David Zalubowski, File

AP Photo


DENVER

About 10,000 live-in childcare workers from around the world will be paid an average of $3,500 each under a class-action settlement that alleged exploitation of the mostly young women who perform the jobs.

U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello (ar-GWAY’-oh) gave final approval to the $65.5 million deal for au pairs on Thursday in Denver.

About 160,000 au pairs who came to the United States to work from 2009 to late 2018 had the potential to receive money under the settlement, but about 10,000 filed claims.

The deal also requires that agencies authorized by the State Department to connect au pairs with families notify both parties that au pairs can negotiate to be paid more than the minimum $195.75 a week required by the department. The agencies didn’t admit any wrongdoing under the deal.

Unlimited Digital Access: Only $0.99 For Your First Month

Get full access to The Bellingham Herald content across all your devices.

SAVE NOW

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.