A nanny working for a high-profile couple in New York City’s West Village is suing her former employers after she claims they withheld overtime pay and falsely implicated her as being a prostitute, after tending to their children for about two years beginning in 2014, New York Post reports. She’s also accusing the duo of retaliation after the relationship went sour.
Elizabeth Ashley Little, 38, says she was hired by Jacco Reijtenbagh, director of Plaza Management, and his wife, Marlies Verhoeven, who founded The Cultivist—a prestigious global arts club.
Founders of the global arts club @TheCultivist Marlies Verhoeven and Daisy Peat create art & cultural experiences for members in international destinations https://t.co/zwte2WhQkx. pic.twitter.com/qbHq5euHM7
— Galerie Magazine (@GalerieMag) May 30, 2018
Little claims that the job became overbearing in 2016, with 70-hour work weeks caring for and cleaning up after the couple’s children. After complaining of the tiresome schedule and pay, Reijtenbagh and Verhoeven fired her, according to Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit documents obtained by New York Post.
“At certain times, Ms. Little worked seven days per week without at least 24 consecutive hours of rest in a given week,” the lawsuit states.
While the suit alleges Little was to be paid a minimum annual salary of $70,000, it also indicates that higher pay was a possibility if she agreed to accept the earnings in cash. Records also argue that following her termination, the family’s former caregiver was locked out of their $14 million Charles Street home sans her wallet and personal belongings.
After Little threatened to sue the couple, Verhoeven reportedly retaliated by erroneously telling another staffing company, British American Household Staffing, about a legal battle involving the nanny over “the care and safety of her children.”
The lawsuit then claims that Reijtenbagh “told Ms. Little that an acquaintance of his allegedly found pictures of [Little] on a website for escorts”—an accusation the nanny vehemently denies.
“Ms. Little, who had never created a profile or posted any of her pictures on any such website expressed her alarm…that her pictures or likeness were found on such a website, especially in light of her chosen career path focused on caring for children,” court records state.
Instead, the woman believes someone took photos from her Instagram profile in order to create an escort account.
Little is seeking compensation via the lawsuit for emotional distress, and unspecified damages that includes potential tax penalties stemming from $17,500 apparently paid to her under the table.
[Feature Photo: Pexels]
