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A Massachusetts mother says she was bamboozled into paying extra fees by an au pair company that charged both the host family and the au pair for travel costs related to the child care service.
Lead plaintiff Amanda Mack alleges in the au pair class action lawsuit that she and others were charged excessive fees by Cultural Care Inc. as a part of their service coordinating the hire of a child care worker from overseas.
“Au pairs” are mainly young women from overseas who families hire to care for their children. In return, au pairs are offered room and board, pay, and an experience living in the United States with a family. Often, third party companies, like Cultural Care, are used by families to connect them to au pairs for a fee.
Cultural Care, alleges the au pair class action lawsuit, works with au pairs in 24 countries. Its website says that au pairs can provide up to 45 hours of child care per week. Families must provide a private room and board as well as a welcoming environment.
In return, says Mack, the family pays a variety of fees, from registration to processing, as well as a programing fee, along with tuition, the cost of an au pair training school and insurance. The family also pays the au pair a stipend, but directly, not through the company.
Mack says that Cultural Care slapped her and other families with the cost of airfare and domestic travel for their au pair to reach their destination. Unknown to the families, says Mack, the au pairs were also charged for the travel fees by Culture Care.
The plaintiff alleges that she contracted through Culture Care for an au pair in March 2018. She contends that, as a part of a $8,695 program fee, she paid for her au pair’s round-trip international airfare; however, Cultural Care’s websites that aim to recruit au pairs state that the au pair pays a different program fee that covers their international airfare.
“It cannot be true that Plaintiff paid for her au pair’s Travel Costs, on the one hand, and that Plaintiff’s au pair paid for her own Travel Costs, on the other hand,” states the au pair class action lawsuit. “Defendant knew this, and yet it billed them both, separately, without disclosing to either of them that each was independently paying for the au pair’s Travel Costs.”
“In fact, Defendant misrepresented to Plaintiff and Class members that they were covering these Travel Costs, inducing them to pay costs they otherwise would not pay, when, in fact, Defendant was simply pocketing the double payment.”
According to the complaint, Cultural Care is still charging both the families and the au pair for travel fees. Further, the company is trying to hide this fact from families and au pairs by contracting with each separately.
“Without informing Plaintiff or the Class members, Defendant collected the money for Plaintiff’s and Class members’ au pairs’ Travel Costs twice, from two separate sources,” argues the au pair class action lawsuit. “Defendant’s improper and undisclosed double billing means the money Plaintiff and Class members paid Defendant for the Travel Costs was redundant and duplicative. Defendant received payment for the Travel Costs from another source.”
The au pair class action lawsuit seeks to represent other families who worked with Cultural Care and paid a program fee that included airfare for their au pairs.
The plaintiff is represented by Katherine Aizpuru and Hassan A. Zavareei of Tycko & Zavareei LLP, Melissa S. Weiner and Joseph C. Bourne of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP, and Jeffrey M. Ostrow and Jonathan M. Streisfeld of Kopelowitz Ostrow Ferguson Weiselberg Gilbert.
The Au Pair Double Billing Class Action Lawsuit is Mack v. Cultural Care Inc., Case No. 1:19-cv-11530, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
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11 thoughts onHost Families Overcharged For Au Pair, Class Action Says
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Cultural Care is not the only company that does the exact same thing.
How do I join?
Or how it’s the same price to get an out of country au pair vs. an extension in country au pair…how is that possible if their ticket back home was already included in the previous family’s agency fee? Doesn’t make sense, previous family should get a refund of the refund flight fee and new family should get a discount on the airfare to come over since she/he is already in country..each family should only have to pay for 1 ticket, not round trip.
I picked up our first au pair from a nearby suburb. I asked agency if we still had to our for airfare since she was already in States. I was told that it was for her flight back. When I pressed as it didn’t make sense to receive no discount, I was told that it was part of the contract.
Double billing is just the tip of the iceberg. What about the agencies lack of real screening of APs for their ability to provide safe child care? Or their lack of support for families when there is serious safety concerns about the care provided by APs?
Keeping aupairs in country with documented police reports of child neglect against them and rematching them with unknowing families.
RIGHT??? And what about the agencies lack of real screening of host families for their ability to fairly and safely host a child care provider? Or agency’s lack of support for au pairs when there is serious safety concern about overwork, verbal, physical, sexual, control abuse by certain HFs and/or their children? Double billing truly IS just the tip of the iceberg….
I am interested in joining as well.
How do I join this class action? Au Pair Double Billing Class Action Lawsuit is Mack v. Cultural Care Inc., Case No. 1:19-cv-11530, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Have you ever figured out how to join?
I’m interested as well.