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California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's campaign is responding to accusations that she subjected to "emotional and financial abuse" her former housekeeper, who was working illegally in the country.
Nicky Diaz, who was Whitman's housekeeper from 2000-2009, claimed in a press conference alongside attorney Gloria Allred that Whitman was aware that she was undocumented and that the Republican candidate fired her only after deciding to run for governor. Diaz also said Whitman failed to pay her on time and did not offer her medical leave during her pregnancy.
Allred said that Whitman ignored a 2003 letter from the Social Security Administration notifying her of discrepancies in the Social Security number that Diaz provided.
Whitman, who has poured millions of her own money into the close race against Democrat former Gov. Jerry Brown, flatly said in a statement that “the charges are without merit.”
Whitman's campaign held a conference call with reporters - though not allowing follow-up questions – before the press conference to address the allegations.
On June 20, 2009, the campaign said, Diaz came to Whitman and confessed that she was not a legal resident of the U.S. and filed false documents. She was then fired by Whitman.
“As required by law, once we learned she was an illegal worker, I immediately terminated Nicky's employment,” Whitman said in a written statement.”It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I considered Nicky a friend and a part of our extended family.”
The campaign also argued that Allred had given Jerry Brown campaigns contributions in 1982 ($1,000) and in 2006 ($150), and said the timing of this complaint -- 34 days until the election -- was curious.
“I believe Nicky is being manipulated by Gloria Allred for political and financial purposes during the last few weeks of a hotly contested election," the statement read.
*** UPDATE *** A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Wednesday showed Whitman trailing Brown 52 percent to 43 percent.
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Wait...so let me get this straight. A woman comes to the U.S. illegally, lies to Whitman about her citizenship to get a good job from her, admits to the world 34 days before an election and then sues the woman who provided her with that job. God Bless America. Gloria Allred and this Nicky woman are a disgrace to this country which is founded on hard-work and honesty...I hope Whitman destroys Brown.
once again, from an HR perspective, this is not how it works. The burden of verification is on the employer. Something like 60% of job applications and employment documentation submitted by potential employees in this country contain forgeries, fraud or other misrepresentation. Diaz is a criminal, yes, but so are 60% of all job applicants, apparently. Just because she is a criminal does not relieve eMeg of her legal responsibilities. It is up to the employer to vett them. Failure to attempt to fulfil their legal obligation to validate employment status with an SSN is a breach of the law. eMeg said as much in her campaign platform. She cannot have a it both ways and is exposed here as a hypocrite.
Yep, and if she had been working for Jerry and he had fired her, the Republicans would be doing the exactly the same thing.
Both parties are full of crap. I just know Jerry knows whats what in California. Mad Meg is a carpetbagging scallywag who's own CEO at eBay won't endorse her.
California first
So all BROWN SKIN people must be vetted before they are hired?
and cant be trusted?
I think thats called racism
Jorge, what on earth are you talking about. All people, brown, yellow, white, green, blue, black, who try to cheat the immigration system face legal consequenses. Because millions of these people happen to have brown skin is irrelevant. You are a racist and are anti-American, anti-laws and border on anarchistic behaviour.
actually, Jorge, that's patently false.
EVERY person is vetted by HR when you apply for a job. It's the law... your skin color doesn't matter. If your employer doesn't do it, he is breaking the law. Period, full stop. Try applying for a job.. I guarantee you they will ask you for your SSN, and when they get it, they will run the legally required checks with it. If that SSN is invalid or compromised, it is immediately flagged as a non-match.
Okay, forget about Meg and Gloria. What the h&ll is ICE waiting for? Pick that illegal alien up and deport immediately. She confessed to comitting crime by being in the US illegaly and by falsefiying documents.
Illegal aliens are like drugs. You don't stop an illegal smuggling trade by trying to catch all the suppliers. You do so by tackling demand and stopping it. Demand for drug trafficking comes from dealers and users. Demand for illegal immigrants come from scofflaw employers like eMeg and Zoe Baird. I fail to see why one is punishable by 10 years in jail and the other is OK according to Republican pundits. Baird, a Dem, paid for this by being forced to withdraw her candidacy for public office. eMeg should be forced to withdraw for the same reason.
Sure, deport Diaz or, better yet, prosecute her, for forging documents.. I'm all for that, but that isn't enough. Everybody agrees that you make the greater impact by punishing those on the demand-side.. in this case, it's scofflaw employers.
California
I do love the SELECTIVE out rage from dems on this.
DEMS have fought against E verify for years, which would be a system for employers to find out if an employee is legal to work in the USA
Liberals been against it, UNIONS been against it,
THis maid got 23 dollars an hour to clean house and wants to claim she was EXPLOITED...ahahahaha
see how far thats going to go with Americans in this economic climate.
Hi Jorge,
Like most foaming at the mouth Neocons,you want to make this about Democrats, when it's about breaking the law and then lying to cover it up.
The RNC should have done a better job at vetting this lady. It is no surprise to me that a woman who failed to perform the most basic and important of American Civic duties; Voting:
"Whitman didn't vote for one president, congressman, senator or governor," says the ad's narrator. "She didn't skip some votes, as she claimed, she skipped every one -- for 28 years."
Would stoop to lying about illegals.
She's done Jorge, sorry, the law is the law.
Deal with it.
Done and gone.
Most of us are guilty, in some way or another, of supporting or hiring an illegal alien. The first crime was when Ms. Whitman's housekeeper lied on her employment application and used a bogus SSN. It is a travesty of justice that the housekeeper is getting any attention, other than immediate deportation. It also seems plausable that Ms. Whitman chose to hire help from an employment service, in hopes of avoiding hiring an illegal immigrant. Shame on Gloria Allred, once again!
This is nothing but a campaign smear against Meg Whitman by the democrats. Californiafirst, I doubt if you even have a job let alone working for HR. This house keeper was hired through a placement agency. Her SS card and CA drivers license was published on TMZ.com. Further she admits that she told Whitman in Jun 2009 that she was illegal and the documents were false. Whitman fired her, as she should have been. 15 months later here comes Gloria Allred with some phony law suit, just be election time, kind of curious, don't you think. Also I remember Gloria Allred filing a law suit against Arnold just a day or two prior to the election for governor when Davis was recalled. Seems like Allred is always around at the end to get her 15 minutes of TV time. Did anyone stop to think this was nothing but a shake down and Whitman refused to pay. She could have written this woman a check and be done with it, but black mailers always come back for more. Whitman did the right thing.
To all Republicans defending eMeg here. Were you for or against forcing Zoe Baird to withdraw her candidacy for USAG because she failed to run checks on a household employee who turned out to be an illegal? I really would like to know. 'cause I remember the Baird hearings vividly and every Republican in the country was gunning for her when the revelations came out (in much the same way as we are for eMeg now). Every one. I just thought I'd ask because I really would like to know if there is ANY theoretical limit to your party's hypocrisy.
This "mistake" goes along with her "mistake" not to VOTE for over 20 years! She only does what is convenient and for the good of Meg Whitman! Buying the governorship of California is only a stepping stone for her run at the Presidency in 2012/2016, Meg Whitman doesn't give a rat's ass about what's good for the people of California. My family has been residents of California since 1878 and seen many governors come and go, Jerry Brown at least cares about this State and has my vote!
This "mistake" goes along with her "mistake" not to VOTE for over 20 years! She only does what is convenient and for the good of Meg Whitman! Buying the governorship of California is only a stepping stone for her run at the Presidency in 2012/2016, Meg Whitman doesn't give a rat's ass about what's good for the people of California. My family has been residents of California since 1878 and seen many governors come and go, Jerry Brown at least cares about this State and has my vote!