Host Family Class Action Suit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My au pair left our family (and the program) without notice on 12/26 - 14 hours before she was supposed to start work - after she got married and applied to change her visa status. I am not in the DC-area but in MA.

This scenario has caused me to SERIOUSLY question the au pair program in general, especially after I read the "agreement" I signed with my agency with a new lens and see that there are basically no protections for the host families. The au pair is protected at all costs, but the host family is incented only to remain with the program and to continue matching with au pairs.

A scenario like mine opens up a lot of grey areas between the host family, the au pair, and the agency and makes it hard to discern who is responsible for what. Because of that, the program make no sense and, in my opinion, puts children at risk. I understand now, after my own experience and what I'm reading online, that to many au pairs, it is simply an easy way to get into the country, and there are just no protections for the host families (primarily THE CHILDREN) that are sacrificed for the au pairs desire to immigrate. I would gladly participate if there were a way to take significant action against the agencies.

I am so sorry about this, how awful! So she got married in secret?

If you really wanted to be vengeful you can report that she violated her J1 visa by getting married

Yes, our aupair was removed from the program because she was arrested and deported but the agency would not refund our host family fees and pointed to the contract that said our fees were gone unless we accepted another au pair. We sued and settled. The contract is biased against host families AND aupairs. This is a profit driven machine of an industry centered on selling childcare. If you read your contract, you pay for the "access" to the applicant database and not for the assurance or screening of the applicants for safety and childcare experience.

The reforms do nothing to fix the issue that is causing 99.9% of the problems with the au pair program. I'm sorry your aupair left you high and dry. They can easily walk away with little consequence. The agency will take the opportunity to sell you more of the same or force you to leave your already fees behind.

It's quite the program they are running and it's legal.

[Anonymous]

Yes, she got married in secret and deceived my family until she abruptly quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My au pair left our family (and the program) without notice on 12/26 - 14 hours before she was supposed to start work - after she got married and applied to change her visa status. I am not in the DC-area but in MA.

This scenario has caused me to SERIOUSLY question the au pair program in general, especially after I read the "agreement" I signed with my agency with a new lens and see that there are basically no protections for the host families. The au pair is protected at all costs, but the host family is incented only to remain with the program and to continue matching with au pairs.

A scenario like mine opens up a lot of grey areas between the host family, the au pair, and the agency and makes it hard to discern who is responsible for what. Because of that, the program make no sense and, in my opinion, puts children at risk. I understand now, after my own experience and what I'm reading online, that to many au pairs, it is simply an easy way to get into the country, and there are just no protections for the host families (primarily THE CHILDREN) that are sacrificed for the au pairs desire to immigrate. I would gladly participate if there were a way to take significant action against the agencies.

I am so sorry about this, how awful! So she got married in secret?

If you really wanted to be vengeful you can report that she violated her J1 visa by getting married

Yes, our aupair was removed from the program because she was arrested and deported but the agency would not refund our host family fees and pointed to the contract that said our fees were gone unless we accepted another au pair. We sued and settled. The contract is biased against host families AND aupairs. This is a profit driven machine of an industry centered on selling childcare. If you read your contract, you pay for the "access" to the applicant database and not for the assurance or screening of the applicants for safety and childcare experience.

The reforms do nothing to fix the issue that is causing 99.9% of the problems with the au pair program. I'm sorry your aupair left you high and dry. They can easily walk away with little consequence. The agency will take the opportunity to sell you more of the same or force you to leave your already fees behind.

It's quite the program they are running and it's legal.

Wow. The contract for our agency is completely absurd and I am having my lawyer review and help with a response to recoup some of the agency fees. What a racket.

[Anonymous]

We would join if there was currently a lawsuit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We would join if there was currently a lawsuit!

Same!!!

[Anonymous]

This happened to our family as well. The put a AP in our home that they knew (was reported by prior host family) was under psychiatric care and on antidepressants, among other things. Never disclosed any of this to us.

But, the contract you signed precludes class or mass actions and also has an arbitration agreement, which can stand by itself even if you were fraudulently induced into the contract. So, you would have to arbitrate any claims you have against them and the arbitration biz is extremely crooked. The arbitrators skew rulings to those who keep business coming in the door (the corporations). Not worth it.

Find another way to report them. Get your story on the news, file a complaint with FTC. Write to your state and federal representatives and see if they will get involved. They are committing fraud on a massive scale and no one can do anything about it. Something has to be done.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a good attorney they have used for successful legal action? Long story short, our Au Pair suffered a complete psychotic break, was put under a TDO and hospitalized for 2 weeks in a Psychiatric Hospital. The agency is refusing to reimburse us the 10k fee we paid up front, and at this point we may need to take legal action. We were in the program for 6 months and between the fee and “childcare” we are out about 20k. Our family and children were in danger.

I also want to point out, our love for our former Au pair is independent from our business relationship with the agency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This happened to our family as well. The put a AP in our home that they knew (was reported by prior host family) was under psychiatric care and on antidepressants, among other things. Never disclosed any of this to us.

But, the contract you signed precludes class or mass actions and also has an arbitration agreement, which can stand by itself even if you were fraudulently induced into the contract. So, you would have to arbitrate any claims you have against them and the arbitration biz is extremely crooked. The arbitrators skew rulings to those who keep business coming in the door (the corporations). Not worth it.

Find another way to report them. Get your story on the news, file a complaint with FTC. Write to your state and federal representatives and see if they will get involved. They are committing fraud on a massive scale and no one can do anything about it. Something has to be done.

Have you heard of HIPAA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please dont mess up the AP program for the rest of us by allowing this lawyer to do this

It's all about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This happened to our family as well. The put a AP in our home that they knew (was reported by prior host family) was under psychiatric care and on antidepressants, among other things. Never disclosed any of this to us.

But, the contract you signed precludes class or mass actions and also has an arbitration agreement, which can stand by itself even if you were fraudulently induced into the contract. So, you would have to arbitrate any claims you have against them and the arbitration biz is extremely crooked. The arbitrators skew rulings to those who keep business coming in the door (the corporations). Not worth it.

Find another way to report them. Get your story on the news, file a complaint with FTC. Write to your state and federal representatives and see if they will get involved. They are committing fraud on a massive scale and no one can do anything about it. Something has to be done.

Have you heard of HIPAA?

You are missing the point. They put an AP in a home that was dealing with some serious issues. They should not have done that.