E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS From NBC's Mark Murray and Sarah Ford
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.
Leave a Comment:
Sooooo....if I hire an illegal and pretend not to know about it will I get an excuse too???? It's people like Whitman who just don't get it. When you hire someone you do a God Damn back ground check especially if their Mexican!!!!! Call it profiling but come on this is ridiculous and so now is that the excuse now a days big and small business owners use when they pretend they didn't know the person(s) they hired were illegal??? Give me a break.....It's B***S***
Tucan
so you say WHITMAN should have RACIALL PROFILED this woman and ASSUMED she was ILLEGAL?
Why didn't Whitman confirm her citizenship 9 years ago?
That's a rhetorical question of course, we know why. Cheap labor.
Mark she doesnt have to..
not EMPLOYEES job to confirm citizenship..
byw you dont have to be a"citizen" to work... just a legal resident.
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!
Tmz has a story up with all the facts. The woman was hired through an employment agency. She supplied a social security card and a valid California state license. She signed paper stating that under the penalty of perjury she was a legal us citizen and legally allowed to work in the us. Oh and she was being paid $23 an hour. This story doesn't tell all the facts and it sound tome that Mrs. Whitman did nothing wrong here. Research all the ridiculous things Gloria allred has sued people for...boy scouts of America, a department store for.having separate boys and girls toy sections, etc.
Cool then produce those documents and stop lying.
She already has...
TMZ that is a great place to get your information!! Even if your facts are totally correct Whitman had the responsibility to make sure she was legal. She easily had the resources to do that. Social Security and drivers licences numbers are easily checked. Any one in California knows that illegals are the most willing to be household help. Anyone that hires that kind of help knows drivers licenses and social security cards are frequently stolen or forged. She just didn't care until decided to run for office. Do you think she would have even slight chance to win if she had the money Jerry Brown does.
Give Me A Break!!!
ryan-
Hiring an employee through an employment agency dose not negate anyones responsibility to verify right to work. Once they become your employee it is your responsibility and yours alone to confirm this by careful examination of documents and verification with the social security department. Furthermore the SSD sends employers annual alerts requiring them to confirm any identities that don't add up.
There is no excuse what so ever for Meg or any employer period.
How does 23$ a hour break the law?
Buying stolen goods is just as legal as stealing them. Hiring illegals is just as illegal as being a illegal. Meg Whitman had responsibility to know the legal status of whoever she employed. If if she didn't truly know she could have found out if she wanted to. It appears she didn't care. That is until she decided to run for office. How many years did she not vote. It appears she didn't care about that either. How can you go so many years and not care? You then turn around spend millions of dollars to try and get yourself elected. How can you expect not to have your motives second guessed.
You can beat up on Jerry Brown all you want, but you will have a hell of a time proving he does not care.
Sorry Meg... if you had been paying her Social Security you would have been informed after the 1st payment that the number was fishy. I don't buy your lies for one second. Produce a signed I-9 form as is required by law for employers to maintain.
If Whitman hired an illegal alien and knew she was illegal, she should be prosecuted. If she is telling the truth that the alien fabricated her status as a legal resident and presented a counterfeit or stolen social security card and a California driver's license when she was hired in 1990 and completed an I-9, the illegal alien should be prosecuted and deported from the US. (Gloria Allred should be disbarred)
I am a republican, but I wasn't going to vote for Whitman anyway (her stand against the Arizona law enforcing the crime of being in the US ilegally).
Brown and his father before him were bad for the State of California and are still bad. The fact that Brown is not representing the majority of Californians in support of proposition 8 reinforces his position that he will not represent California. If you recall, he also was against the death penalty back in the 70s after the people of the State of California voted overwhelmingly to reinstate the death penalty. His statement was that he didn't care what the people said, he would not support the death penalty. He puts his personal positions ahead of the majority of people who elected him.
I don't believe a word Gloria Allred says. Ever. Or this housekeeper. This is clearly a partisan attack from a Brown supporter! This is completely reprehensible! And all I can say of MSLSD is that it is so typical of them to report unsubstantiated allegations like this! But what I DO know for certain is that I would NEVER under any circumstances vote for Jerry Brown. The man thinks it's acceptable to pick and choose what laws he abides by as Attorney General! How DARE he not do his job and support the voters of California in the Prop 8 case! That is dereliction of duty at its worse! He just doesn't get to get away with that!!! What idiot would think that's acceptable? It isn't. The man is a doddering, old "hippie" and anyone who votes for him gets what they deserve - state bankruptcy AND higher taxes!
just because an attack is partisan (what attack isn't?) doesn't make it's any less true, or germane. As I tried to say above, there's no excuse for what Meg did here.. at least none that should fly with anyone in this state who knows anything about hiring domestic help.. which is just about the entire political and professional class. If you don't ask (by checking on the SSN), that means you don't want to know because you suspect the truth - that your employee is an illegal. If, as alleged, she did ask and received and concealed an SSN no-match letter, then she's lying and a prosecutable criminal. It's kind of that simple, and either way, she shouldn't be electable. I don't see any other possible scenario here. Sure, Allred's motivations are transparent, but they aren't what's important here.
This is not a partisan attack. The only interest Alred has is for Ben Franklin. If Whitman broke the law by not properly identifying her employees right to work then she should just accept responsibility pay the fine and move forward.
It seems Meg Whitman has the paperwork that the woman filled out when she was referred by the employment agency. I am not sure what else a person who hires someone is to do. We3 all know it is easy to get a fake SS card and license so why would you not believe her or the agency.
I still say she was let go over a year and a half ago why is this suddenly coming out?????
Did I miss it or is there not a word in this story that is the SECOND time Meg Whitman has been accused of abusing an employee?
eBay paid out a $200,000 settlement to a former assistant who said that Whitman shoved and slapped her while she was CEO. The woman was drilling Whitman on her her "talking points" for a meeting she was about to go into and Whitman became frustrated and shoved and/or slapped the woman, depending on who is telling the story.
Long story short, Whitman never denied that there was an inappropriate incident, eBay not only paid the woman a large sum of money out of court but gave her a different job in the company.
And I know a whole bunch of eBay sellers/customers who would like to go a few rounds in a ring with Whitman over how they were treated by that company while it was under her control.
Whitman is obviously an egomanical hothead.
Don't even get me started on Carly Fiorina. I worked for a company that was contracted to Hewlett Packard before, during and after Fiorina's tenure as CEO.
She took a company that for many, many years had been rated among the best companies to work for and quickly stripped it of that title by shipping hundreds of jobs overseas, spying on the board of directors, driving stock prices to the lowest they had been and cutting salaries for the people who had built the company into what it had became only to be fired and walk out the door with a megamillion dollar golden parachute.
Fiorina almost destroyed a Fortune 500 company and yet the GOP seems to think she is some kind of economic genius because they keep rewarding her with leadership positions and opportunities that are not befitting of someone with her negative baggage.
Remember,
The Republicans held Shorts are bigger as the guy that would come in and open the books and fix everything now you have another republican saying the same thing and we're supposed to trust her.
She has no clue what the legislature will do to her. We need a democrate that will work with the Democrate legislature.
another republicon hypocrite exposed...
this hopefully makes it harder for her to BUY the office she is running for.
hey meg...GO AWAY.
please.
Remember,
The Republicans held Shorts are bigger as the guy that would come in and open the books and fix everything now you have another republican saying the same thing and we're supposed to trust her.
She has no clue what the legislature will do to her. We need a democrate that will work with the Democrate legislature.
Gloria Allred is an odious ambulance chasing piece of yak excrement. If she's speaking, she's lying. She's handled more trash (clients) than most landfills. She's handled more tarts than a bakery. Now this...! This client should be sent packing to her country of origin, not involving herself in litigation against a bonafide agent of change to the political staus quo in California. Why the media would give her air-time speaks volumes about how far journalism has fallen recently. Doesn't the timing of this seem unusual, coming from an arch liberal supporter that Ms. Allred is? If she doesn't watch out she might give the legal profession a bad name. I believe Gloria is an illegal immigrant...from Hell. Send her back to the Prince of Darkness and take him to court for real abuses. The Chanel suits can't hide a despicably sad excuse of a human being.
I don't know enough about Meg whitman to comment on her......But that other woman, Carly Fiorina......she knows a lot about job creation......in China or India. She was one of John McCain's economic advisors during his campaign.....he ended up "letting her go" because she talked to the press about economics, too funny.
let he who is without sin, cast the first stone. Good grief....talk about the freakin issues and propose REAL solutions! This moment in time before elections makes me PUKE! He did that, she said this,....blah, blah. When an opposing party grabs at anything to expose dirty laundry and avoids talking about the life&death stuff that's destroying our country,....it tells me one thing. That party doing the heavy mudslinging doesn't have doodly when it comes to problem solving and they sure as hell don't want to talk about any of the mess they created/voting in insane bills that adversely effect all of us poor slobs.
Remember,
The Republicans held Shorts are bigger as the guy that would come in and open the books and fix everything now you have another republican saying the same thing and we're supposed to trust her.
She has no clue what the legislature will do to her. We need a democrate that will work with the Democrate legislature.
This "housekeeper" should be in prison for counterfeiting a SS card, drivers license and for being an illegal alien. If the State of California refuses to uphold the law and allows millions of illegals to swarm the State like locusts..........they will cheat and lie in order to work here (duh)...........you can't expect the American citizen to worry about hiring a part time housekeeper who provides phony ID if the State doesn't care if she is here to begin with.......
nycguy - I agree everyone who broke the law should pay the price. The maid should at a minimum be deported if found guilty and Meg should pay the fines that violating the law calls for.
The difference is that the maid is not running to be Governor of California.
I cannot believe Californians would be SO STUPID as to vote for disastrous Brown!!! What are they thinking? California is the poster child for bad economic management, bad governors with no business sense and Brown DOES NOT DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE to make the situation worse!
I do smell a "rat" with this charge against Whitman.....as the woman came from an employment agency, and was documented, complete with a SS number. And, paid $23 per hour! Where do I sign up?
I guess California just likes corruption, liars and frauds - i.e. Pelosi, Boxer and Brown. All the luck to you, and don't come to us to bail you out!!!!!
Maybe you do smell a rat!! A Rat that might go by the name of Meg. Documentation can be forged, it can also be checked to see if it's valid. Meg wasn't worried enough to do that. She wasn't worried enough to vote for almost 20 years. Now she wants to be a boss again. I'm trying to figure out why it's so important to her to spend millions of her own money to be elected. For her money might be easy come and easy go, but for the average Californian it is not. The average Californian is not a nut case or a whacko either. Were all not movie stars here. Most of us work hard pay our taxes and try to do the right thing. We have had Jerry Brown before and at least we know what were gonna get. Arnold was and Meg is a roll of the dice and I'm not ready to throw them.
Her spending so much of her own money must mean that she has a scheme to get it back! Whitman needs to be drummed out of the race!
How come dems nationally had no problem with DEM GOV CORZINE or NJ spending millions of his own money?
or blumberg in NY spending so much of his own money?
Once again the LIBERAL double standard is exposed..
BTW liberals who have fought against E VERIFY system that would be a national database of immigrants allowed to work..now say WHITMAN should have known this women was Illega"
Liberal Hypochrisy knows no bounds..
Libs in panic mode...
If we were just talking money I would concede some validity to your argument. As far as double standards goes neither party is with out guilt on that score. I would call Whitman's railing against the hiring of illegals and the having a preventable one herself a real double standard worth taking note of. Lack of a voting record and then asking for votes is another biggy. Lets face it all politicians have a little dirt on their sleeves. We are not going to get perfection from anyone in politics. You can say being a Liberal is bad and I can say being a right winger is bad. Neither statement is true. It just means our perspectives are different. That is not bad that is America. Both sides think their way is better, but the truth is better is somewhere in middle.
"we need to build an 'economic fence'... that holds employers accountable for following the law. We are never going to solve the problem of illegal immigration as long as there is strong demand for undocumented labor."
- Meg Whitman, 2010 (from her published campaign platform)
I guess there's an exception for the employer at the top of the ticket.
Just another Greed Over Patriotism economic terrorist and "family values" hypocrite, you betcha.
And just another dumb little rant that isn't funny and isn't cute.
You betcha!
I think that Marine Vet has it right on the nose.
If you really know Jerry Brown then it wouldn't matter if Meg Whitman was a serial killer, she's still a better choice then Brown.
Frank,
You must be a Republican...A Serial killers is OK....LOL!! LOL!! LOL!!
If Meg really wanted to help California she should have just donated that 100 million to the state. It would have at least helped some and she would have been able to say see how I want to help this state.
Power is all they want in California, they talk about Barbara Boxer's looks, really ladies she looks good compared to either of you.
Just lik they e all the Muslim haters, they blame all for what happened on 911, then why are not all people who look like the Oklahoma bomber not blamed. They say Muslims cut off a hand for punishment and that is bad but what about the Catholic Priets molesting young boys or just your regular preacher molesting women and children. Why dont they say or do more to them. These people will remember the abuse forever, so why is that different.
I voted Republican 30 years and will never do so again for such bigots, women haters. Anyone who does not want a rape victem either a woman or a child to have an abortion is crazy. No young child should have to have a baby conceived that way.
The so called Christians are not what I thought a Christian was, I thought you talked nice, helped others, they blame everyone else not their President who sent our young people to be killed on a bunch of lies.
Sorry Brenda but 100 million towards our over spending problem is like having a dime for a $33.00 dinner bill. It's 1/330 of a percent. It laughable how awful the financial shape we're in and when the healthcare reform hits its going to double the deficit, you think Cali's having a tough time this year. A dime for a $66 dinner or 1/660. Please pass the crack pipe Obama Zombie
Brenda, I fear you are right. It would seem that the republicans only value money and power. I fear it is part of their biological make-up. They seem to only have things they are afraid of, or are against. The Demacrats seem to have more faith, hope, and love. I now vote FOR hope, with faith and out of Love, than out of fear.
Hold on a second. Isn't this what the Liberals want on Immigration. If you try to insure a Hispanic is here legally. You are Racial Profiling (Arizona). If you tell them they have to show proof. You are Racial Profiling
Let's turn this around. This woman comes forward. She Say's that she tried to get a Job with Whitman. Was told she could not be hired unless she showed Proof. I am sure people would be screaming about this.
If Brown would have done this. The Democrats would be patting him on the back. Saying he stood for Immigration rights.
actually, no, they are two different things, but as I've noted elsewhere, even I don't object to the AZ law anymore (I did initially on civil libertarian grounds). But having police stop you in the streets is not the same as the perfectly legal and constitutionaly-sanctioned act of requiring employers to check on an employee's legal status.
And unlike the "liberals" protesting the AZ law, Meg wrote, as item #1 on her election platform statement on illegal immigraton" that "employers need to be held accountable" for hiring illegals. She just failed to note her personal exemption from her own platform.
Even in this state, raging, lying hypocrisy still has to count as a negative on a candidate's electability.
I agree with you BUT we are talking about a heated election. She would have been "Blasted" on either way she handled it. Asking for proof or just taking this womans word. I am not sure how old you are. But there was a time when you could do this
I'm a Democrat but I am an American and a Californian first. If Jerry Brown had or has done the same thing I would feel it would undermind his credibility every bit as much and I would expect him to resine as AG
I also think that Rangal and Waters should resign as well.
We have huge employment and immigration problems in this country and this situation shines the light perfectly on the problem as they interrelate.
You are part of the problem or part of the solution. Apparently the would be Gov. has been part of the problem.
You didn't finish the story... Employer asks for proof of legal status. Worker goes down to the nearest Hispanic neighborhood where anyone on the street can point to the guy that makes IDs. Buys fake SSN for $50. Gives to employer, who if they are following the law, fills out an I-9 form. Worker starts. Within 3-6 months employer gets letter from Social Security Admin telling them the employee is not legal. Meg ignores letter and employs worker for 8(?) more years. ..Shes a LIAR, a HYPOCRITE and a CROOK.
Most people would be just as angry if Brown did it. Believe it or now, even Liberals disapprove of elected officials breaking the law and lying.
OK, but that is not the case is it?
Jerry Brown is a joke punch line, not a viable candidate. I lived that nightmare when he was governor before. He fought prop 13, then when it passed he acted like he wrote the initiative. During his term the state stopped building freeways and hasn't caught up since. He thought Californians would primarily become subway riders and forsake their cars. Hey Moonbean, this ain't Brooklyn and it is 1000 miles from San Diego to Eureka. No transfers. Brilliant. And he fought capital punishment when most Californians favored it. They still do. Now we still have Manson, Sirhan and a 300 plus strong collection of serious bad-dude perps still drawing air, unlike their victims. And now he's telling us what a whiz-bang job he did as mayor in Oakland. Right. Oakland is like Khandahar, without the glitter. This guy should marry Gloria Allred, but no children pleeeze. Honestly, if people think Jerry is the answer, I can't imagine what the question could possibly be.
Before prop 13 weren't all California colleges open tuition free to California residents. After prop 13, the state can't get a balanced budget and all of their schools are a sham. Prop 13 and the like are the problem, not the solution.
PatCenter - Jerry Brown implemented proposition 13 to the letter of the law. So much so that it's author Republican Howard Jarvis not only endorse his reelection but actively campaigned for him against Evill Younger.
The "Moonbeam" tag was placed on him for the crazy notion in the 70's for proposing an emergency response communications Satellite for California. Dose that idea still sound bad to you?
When he ran for President in 1980 his platform included term limits for congress, a national balanced budget amendment and developing green economy to lessen our need for foreign oil. That was in 1980!
It sounds to me that he had a better grasp on what the future would be than most.