Diplomats Are Getting Away With Abusing Their Children's Nannies
Edith Mendoza was working at Damayan, a migrant workers’ organization, when she met a young woman, Sherile Pahagas, whose story was eerily like her own. Both Mendoza and Pahagas were from the Philippines. Both had searched for work on a website called greataupair.com. Both had found work at the home of a German diplomat and his wife, Pit and Mareike Koehler. And both ended up working day and night for less than minimum wage.
Mendoza’s ordeal began in the summer of 2014, when the Koehlers responded to her posting on greataupair.com, according to a 2017 civil lawsuit filed by Mendoza and Pahagas. (The lawsuit was dismissed in November 2017, on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.) The family was looking for a domestic worker to take care of their four children and home in West Harrison, New York. During Mendoza’s phone interview with them, and reading the contract they sent, the job seemed very appealing, according to a complaint filed as part of the lawsuit.
The Koehlers and their lawyer declined to comment, and directed me to the spokesperson at the German mission. “Please be aware that we are unable to provide further details on this matter out of respect for the privacy of those involved,” wrote a spokesperson from the German mission in a statement sent over email. “We provided all information about this legal employment to the appropriate U.S. authority, the United States Mission to the United Nations, Office of Host Country Affairs.”
According to the complaint, Mendoza was attracted to the job because of an advertised 35 to 40 hour weeks, at $10.02 an hour, between 7 a.m.
