A nanny who spent 6-1/2 years caring for affluent Manhattan documentary filmmaker Mazer’s young daughter, she is currently suing him and his wife, sports agent
Sheryl Shade, for
assault and battery as well as an unspecified amount of
unpaid overtime. The lawsuit was filed in 2008 by Francois with the support of Domestic Workers United amnd is still making its way through court.
Francois charges that on Dec. 18, 2008,
Mazer punched her in the face after she tried to stop him from yelling at his daughter who was 8 at the time. She was left with
a black eye and blurred vision, she says.
She pulls up her sleeve to show a
burn mark. “I worked for an elderly woman. She calls me crazy, tells me I am a dog and a whore. One day she wanted me to iron clothes but, when I said I was
waiting for the iron to heat up, she took it and pressed it on my hand.”
She eventually ran away because the abuse became so severe she feared for her life. But she is terrified of the police and isn’t yet ready to approach the authorities.
She has been sleeping on friends’ floors for several months, relying on handouts to survive.
