Pinay maidin NY gets P3.6 M from abusive employers

(Exclusive to The Philippine STAR)

MANILA, Philippines - A New York City-based Filipina nanny who sued her wealthy employers for a number of unfair labor practices has agreed to settle out of court for $72,000 (P3.6 million).

Maricel Cachero Cano, who was represented by lawyers John Howley and Leandro Lachica of the Howley Law Firm, filed in August 2016 before the Supreme Court of the State of New York in Manhattan a suit against her employers Heidi Lee (a.k.a. Lee Ng Ka Yan) and her husband Nicholas Lee, an international financial executive with the global hedge fund Moon Capital Management LP, for their failure to pay her for all the hours she worked at the regular and overtime rates under her contract and to remit to the United States government taxes withheld from her paycheck.

The lawsuit indicated that Cano worked as a housekeeper and stay-in nanny for three children of the Lees, at their Central Park West home in Manhattan.

Cano initially worked for the Lees in Hong Kong and was brought to the US by her employers when the male Lee was transferred to New York, according to the filing. She worked for the family under a B-1 (domestic employment) visa from December 2014 to July 31, 2016, the document added.

Cano’s lawyers said her employers deducted money from her wages, amounting to more than $10,000, throughout Cano’s US employment. They also falsely told her that the deductions would be for her income tax, Social Security and Medicare.

The defendants also refused to pay Cano the compensation she was entitled to receive under the terms of their employment contract and the New York State Labor Law, according to the lawsuit that originally demanded a jury trial.