NEW YORK, NEW YORK – A jury that will decide the back wages claim of a Brazilian nanny will not be allowed to hear that her boss was a dominatrix, a judge has ruled.
The pay dispute arose after Scarlet C. LeMay hired Luzenilde Campos in December 2000 as a full-time, live-in domestic worker and caregiver for her then 2-year-old son.
U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said in a written ruling signed Monday and made public Wednesday that she would not let LeMay’s status as a dominatrix be introduced at trial.
The judge said both sides in the dispute had agreed the status would only be relevant at trial if LeMay were permitted to pursue her claims that she was defamed and had been subjected to emotional distress and fraud. The judge tossed out those countercharges as part of her ruling.
In asking that the dominatrix references be kept out of the trial, lawyers for LeMay said the introduction of the status at trial had the potential to “shock … or otherwise distract the jury.”
The judge did not comment on the argument but included it in her written opinion.
LeMay worked as a dominatrix for many years and was identified as the contact for Ultimate Encounters, a business listed in telephone books in the section for escort services, the judge said.
Campos sued LeMay, saying she was paid less than minimum wage to care for LeMay’s son by preparing all his meals and accompanying him to and from school. She said she also performed household chores including cleaning, shopping for groceries and walking the dog.
In her lawsuit, Campos said she worked seven days a week in LeMay’s Manhattan home and slept on the floor in her son’s bedroom.
She also said LeMay sometimes insulted and humiliated her, even calling her a slave.
LeMay denies the nanny’s allegations.
Courtesy AMNewYork.com: New York, US
