Driving up Massachusetts Avenue beyond Dupont Circle and Sheridan Circle one quickly comes across Embassy Row — the expanse of real estate stretching up towards the National Cathedral occupied primarily by the embassies and residences of the many countries that maintain diplomatic relations with the U.S. And while the houses and buildings speak of stately tradition, what happens within may not.

Law students at American University’s Washington College of Law are taking to the courts today, alleging that a pair of Argentine diplomats over-worked and under-paid a domestic worker they had hired for cleaning duties and childcare. The student attorneys — representing Ms. Mabel Gonzalez, a Paraguayan — claim that the diplomats forced Ms. Gonzalez to work 70 to 80 hours a week for $1.60 an hour, and are demanding that she be paid $13,000 in back wages and damages. Of course, the move may be more symbolic than practical — diplomats enjoy immunity from prosecution, a reality even the students admit.

This case is hardly exceptional. In 2004, workers rights group took to the State Department, demanding that diplomats be held accountable for violations of the rights of their housekeepers and maids. CASA, a Maryland-based advocacy group for Latino rights, has even taken to “rescuing” domestic workers from diplomats who routinely fail to pay them or give them time off — 100 in total from 1998 to 2004.

Disclaimer: This DCist himself works in an embassy, though not as a diplomat, much less with domestic workers.