Couple must pay $125,000 in damages to ex-nanny

[Judi Lynn]

Couple must pay $125,000 in damages to ex-nanny
By Gerardo Reyes
The Miami Herald
6:36 a.m. EDT, September 2, 2009

When Alejandra Ramos received an offer in Peru to work as a nanny for a Key Biscayne couple, she thought it would be a great opportunity to change her life, and especially to have health-insurance coverage to treat her diabetes.

But her aspirations began to unravel after her employers went from failing to keep their promises to making her work exhaustingly long hours while spurning her health complaints, Ramos told El Nuevo Herald.

For $500 a month, Ramos slept in what used to be the apartment's closet next to the garbage chute. She had to work an exhausting shift that began each day at 6:30 a.m. and ended at 1 a.m., or later if the couple had a party at their home, according to court documents.

Besides caring for the couple's son, Ramos had to cook, wash and iron clothes, plus clean the apartment located in one of the exclusive condominium buildings in the exclusive South Florida neighborhood, where hundreds of rich Latin American families try to replicate their own country's lavish lifestyle that afforded servants, chauffeurs and butlers.

~snip~
To take away passports from domestic employees is a generalized practice in Key Biscayne because employers fear other families may lure their domestic help away by offering higher pay, various housewives told El Nuevo Herald.

More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-miami-nanny-bn090209,0,1706479.story