A child care company that promised to rescue sleep-deprived families is facing accusations from parents and former employees of unpaid wages, owed refunds and double charges.
Evanston mother and pediatric therapist Emily Kline said she struggled to sleep when she gave birth to her second child, Noah, earlier this year.
"It was just so hard to parent my 2-year-old, and my husband was going to work so we just felt like we needed the extra help," Kline said.
Kline began to search for child care and came across Sweet Dreams Infant Care, which claimed on their website that they connect new parents with nannies or registered nurses.
Owner Patti Ashton took over the previously well-reviewed company, which has operated for nearly two decades, just a few years ago.
“[Patti] sent us a resume of the person that sort of fit our timeline. And we really liked it,” said Kline.
Kline put down a 3-week deposit of $2,500, and a night nurse from the agency started helping Kline in April.
NBC 5 Responds
Kline said everything was working well for two weeks, when she said Ashton relayed some unexpected news.
"We got a call saying that our night nurse had been demanding money upfront for her, and that [Patti] didn't feel comfortable sending her to us because she was going to fire her," Kline said.
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Kline, left confused by the call, said she didn't want a different night nurse and asked Ashton to cancel her contract and refund the remainder of her deposit.
"We told Patti, our contract was with this specific night nurse. If you can't provide it, we just would like our money back and we'd like to move on. And Patti right away said that was totally fine," Kline said.
E-mails and text messages shared with NBC 5 Responds revealed Ashton agreed to the refund, even claiming a check was in the mail at one point.
“There was a tracking number created, but it says it was never sent,” Kline said.
The money never arrived, with Kline later discovering the company dissolved in May.
“And then through digging and through talking to people, we then realized that she wasn't paying her employees,” Kline said.
NBC 5 Responds has heard from almost a dozen families and former employees who said Ashton owes them thousands of dollars in deposits or wages.
Some clients claim they were double-charged but still can’t get a refund, like one Chicago influencer whose TikToks about her experience with Sweet Dreams Infant Care went viral.
“Here’s the tea on Sweet Dreams. Are they shady? Yes. Did we get our $5,000 deposit back? No,” influencer Jenna Michele said in one of several TikTok videos she made about the company.
“Ashton initially would use credit cards, it sounded like, so she would charge credit cards twice, the deposit twice and say, 'oh, I'll give it back to you’ and then string [clients] along until that 60 days has passed so they couldn't dispute it with their credit card company,” Kline said.
Sonya Griffin, who runs her own child care business called "Never Without Childcare," said she helped Ashton fill jobs by sending over her own nurses.
“You're stealing money from these moms and dads, from families, now you're having someone go to work and not pay them,” Griffin said.
Earlier this year, Griffin said Ashton stopped paying her nurses, leaving her to come up with the $3,900 that was owed.
“It took so much energy out of me because every Friday I had to come up with, whether I had it or not, [money] to pay these people. And now I don't, I don't have any of my money back, you know?” Griffin said.
One nurse is now suing Ashton for $1,450 in backpay, while several others have filed wage complaints with the Department of Labor.
“She's caused people to be behind on their rents, their car note, their mortgages. I know a 71-year-old lady that worked for her that she didn't pay,” Griffin said.
Kline said that Ashton "picked the perfect population of tired people" going through a significant change in life without the time or mental capacity to pursue it.
Ashton has since launched a new business venture called Charm, which according to its website provides “specific personal services from Chicago to New York to Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim to Texas on down to Florida."
Ashton denied a connection to the company in a statement to NBC Chicago.
"No business was ever conducted under a company named Charm," Ashton said.
Ashton agreed to do an interview with NBC 5 Responds on three separate occasions before canceling shortly before the scheduled interview each time.
In an e-mail response, Ashton said she changed her mind about refunding Kline's deposit, alleging that Kline threatened her. Ashton did not provide any documentation of the threats and Kline vehemently denies the allegations.
As for the money owed to Griffin's staff, Ashton said Griffin's workers were paid directly, a claim Griffin said is "simply not true."
Ashton also claimed Griffin owes her $10,000 for breach of contract, accusing her of "stealing work directly from my clients going back for over two years."
Griffin maintains that she never signed a contract with Ashton.
When asked about claims from other former employees who said they weren’t paid, as well as the pending lawsuit, Ashton simply responded, “all due wages have been paid.”
