Meg Whitman’s illegal immigrant hot button
The candidate says firing her housekeeper made her sad. Will California's Latino voters get angry?
By Andrew LeonardTopics: Meg Whitman, How the World Works, 2010 Elections, California, Immigration, Politics News
Barely hours after a debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman gave voters their first chance to compare the California gubernatorial candidates face to face, the Whitman campaign has suddenly exploded in a controversy that hits squarely upon one of the state’s hottest buttons: illegal immigration. A former Whitman housekeeper claims that she was fired for political reasons after revealing to her longtime employers last spring that she wasn’t a legal immigrant. In a press conference Wednesday morning, held at the offices of controversial celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, Diaz also alleged that she had been mistreated by her former employers. According to the L.A. Times, Diaz plans to file claims for missed wages and mileage reimbursements. Allred, who is representing Diaz, says the Whitmans were informed that there were problems with Diaz’s documents at least seven years ago.
Shortly before the press conference, the Whitman campaign acknowledged some key facts: Diaz had indeed been employed by the Whitman family for nine years, and was fired in June 2009, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Whitman lawyer Tom Hiltachk said the employee was hired in 2000 and provided standard forms showing she was a lawful permanent resident. He said that in June 2009 the employee confessed she was not a legal resident and used false documents to gain employment.
Hiltachk said the employee was subsequently fired.
Stutzman said the employee was “close to the family” and that the situation saddened Whitman.
The L.A. Times’ PolitiCal blog has Diaz’s side of the story:
“I told her I don’t have papers to work here and need her help,” the worker said at a press conference in attorney Gloria Allred’s office. Whitman’s husband “was very angry and said, ‘I told you, I told you she was going to bring us problems.’ Ms. Whitman turned to him and said, ‘Calm down, calm down.’ “
She said Whitman’s husband “yelled” at her. “I was crying for fear and intimidation. With a face full of tears, I told them, ‘I believe in people. And I believe people deserve a chance. I also told them I don’t wish them any harm. I just wanted their help.
She said Whitman walked her to the door and said, “I don’t know what I can do, but let me see what my lawyer can do.”
She said Whitman later left her a voicemail telling her she talked to her lawyer. “She said, ‘I cannot help you. And don’t say anything to my children. I will tell them you already have a new job … and from now on you don’t know me, and I don’t know you. You have never seen me, and I have never seen you. Do you understand me?’ “
“I was shocked and hurt that Ms. Whitman would treat me this way after nine years. … She was throwing me away like a piece of garbage.”
The Whitman campaign is hitting back hard. Whitman provided TMZ.com with copies of documents that “appear to show that the maid stated under the penalty of perjury that she was a ‘lawful permanent resident’ of the United States.”
The campaign also released a statement:
Nicky Diaz was my housekeeper from 2000 to 2009. We consider Nicky a friend of our family and were saddened this morning to hear about her legal action.
After nine years of faithful service, Nicky came to us in June 2009 and confessed that she was an illegal worker. Nicky had falsified the hiring documents and personal information she provided to the employment agency that brought her to us in 2000. Nicky told me that she was admitting her deception now because she was aware that her lie might come out during the campaign. Nicky said she was concerned about hurting my family and me.
As required by law, once we learned she was an illegal worker, I immediately terminated Nicky’s employment. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I considered Nicky a friend and a part of our extended family.
I am deeply worried about Nicky and her family. I believe Nicky is being manipulated by Gloria Allred for political and financial purposes during the last few weeks of a hotly contested election. This is a shameful example of the politics of personal destruction practiced by people like Jerry Brown and Gloria Allred.
The charges are without merit. I will continue to focus my campaign on the issues that the people of California want to hear about: jobs, education and fixing our broken budget system in Sacramento.
How damaging the Diaz allegations are to the Whitman campaign may hinge on the question of how long ago Whitman knew Diaz was an undocumented worker. In cases like these, it is entirely possible that Nicky Diaz is being used for political purposes and telling a version of events that is close to the truth. Or maybe not. Maybe she is lying through her teeth. But for the purposes of the Whitman campaign, it may not matter. A great many Latino voters may find more reasons for concern in Whitman’s statement than in Diaz’s claims. After “nine years of faithful service,” Whitman terminated Diaz immediately. How many California Latinos know people who have worked faithfully for their employers, cleaning bathrooms, changing diapers, trimming the rose bushes, and in the process becoming “close” to their employers, and yet all the while living just one whisker away from abrupt termination? Whitman says firing Diaz was “one of the hardest things” she’d ever done. But I think it was probably a bit harder for Diaz than it was for the billionaire candidate for governor. And I think a lot of California voters know that.
Andrew Leonard is a staff writer at Salon. On Twitter, @koxinga21. More Andrew Leonard.
Related Stories
More Related Stories
-
Mike Judge talks gun rights with Alex Jones
-
Closing Gitmo is not enough
-
Murkowski: Palin too disengaged to run for Senate
-
In IRS scandal, new GOP tactic is ignorance
-
Code Pink activist berates Obama at national security speech
-
Cuomo: "Shame on us" if New York City elects Weiner
-
Coburn calls questions about tornado aid "typical Washington B.S."
-
Conspiracy theorists clash over London attack
-
Voting is not a right
-
Destroying the planet for record profits
-
Ahead of Obama's speech, U.S. acknowledges four American drone killings
-
Pic of the day: Barack Obama at prom
-
Anti-Islam backlash in London after machete attack
-
Must-see morning clip: Bill O'Reilly visits "The Daily Show"
-
Obama’s drone speech will probably be maddening
-
Boehner: "Inconceivable" Obama didn't know about IRS targeting
-
Obama to announce new effort to close Guantanamo Bay
-
House supporters of KXL received $56m from fossil fuel industry
-
Judge tells lesbian couple to separate -- or lose kids
-
Obama to address drones, Guantánamo
-
If Alex Pareene were a cable news executive...
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
-
Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
Credit: AP/LM Otero -
Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
Credit: AP/Matt Rourke -
A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher -
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
Credit: AP/Molly Riley -
Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite -
Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster -
O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid -
Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield -
When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin -
A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin -
Recent Slide Shows
- Share on Twitter
- Share on Facebook
- Thumbnails
- Fullscreen
- 1 of 11
- Previous
- Next
Related Videos
Most Read
-
Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid "totally different" from Sandy aid
Jillian Rayfield
-
Tornado survivor to Wolf Blitzer: Sorry, I'm an atheist. I don't have to thank the Lord
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
9-year-old slams Rahm over Chicago schools
Natasha Lennard
-
Facebook's hate speech problem
Mary Elizabeth Williams
-
Inhofe and Coburn: Red state hypocrites
Joan Walsh
-
Experts: Fox News spying scandal a game-changer
Natasha Lennard
-
Brad Pitt keeps breaking his silence on how boring marriage to Jennifer Aniston was
Daniel D'Addario
-
Judge tells lesbian couple to separate -- or lose kids
Irin Carmon
-
Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia
Andrew Leonard
-
Did a Salon excerpt ruin Penn Jillette's chance to win "Celebrity Apprentice"?
Daniel D'Addario
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com

1023 points1024 points1025 points | 498 comments

638 points639 points640 points | 159 comments



Obama Faces Dogged Heckler At Drone Speech
This Is The Woman Who Interrupted Obama's Speech
LGBT Job Discrimination Bill Won't See Action Until July, Senator Says
Comments
53 Comments