Meg Whitman Housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan -Illegal Immigrant

by NowPublic Staff | September 29, 2010 at 11:04 am
7872 views | 22 Recommendations | 18 comments

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Glora Allred and Nicky Diaz Santillan News Conference Photo

Glora Allred and Nicky Diaz Santillan News Conference Photo

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Meg Whitman Housekeeper: Illegal Immigrant Nicky Diaz Santillan Hires Celebrity Lawyer Gloria Allred, Lawsuit Claim for Unpaid Overtime and Mileage

The race for California Governor took an unexpected turn on Wednesday as Nicky Diaz Santillan, a former nanny, maid, housekeeper and driver for Meg Whitman held a news conference today at the offices of her celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred. 

Meg Whitman the former CEO of eBay is in a tight race against former California governor Jerry Brown.

Nicky Diaz Santillan claims that she worked as a maid or housekeeper for Meg Whitman for nine years until June 2009, and that Meg Whitman and her husband Dr. Griffith Harsh knew she was an undocumented illegal alien.

The news conference, streamed live on TMZ, opened with lawyer Gloria Allred making a statement saying that nanny Nicky Diaz Santillan, an undocumented worker, was "exploited and humiliated by Whitman."

Allred says Nicky was initially hired to clean the house for $23/hour for a maximum of 15 hours a week. Allred continues to say that Meg Whitman not only asked Nicky to do other duties including driving and nanny duties and did not pay for overtime or for mileage.

But Nicky's apparent mistreatment apparently went beyond unpaid wages and mileage issues.

Allred cited the example that Nicky asked for maternity leave in March 2005. Allred claims Whitman told Nicky she would have to find her own replacement during her leave, otherwise Nicky would lose her job

Most importantly is the issue of Nicky Diaz Santillan's immigration status. An illegal immigrant, Nicky did not have proper documentation and Allred is alleging that Meg Whitman knew about Nicky's situation.

Allred cites a specific incident where Whitman allegedly received a letter from the social security administration pointing out an apparent mismatch between Nicki's name and the name on the social insurance card.

Apparently, the Whitman household continued to receive letters about the apparent mismatch but did nothing, referring them back to Nicky or throwing them in the trash, even though government regulations require employers to respond to such letters.


Gloria Allred asked rhetorically, was Whitman engaging in a form of "don't ask, don't tell" when it came to Nicky's  immigration  status?

Allred alleges that Meg Whitman told Nicky about her candidacy for governor in April 2009.

In June 2009, Allred says, Nicky spoke to Ms. Whitman and her husband Dr. Harsh for help to get legalization.

At that point Nicky Diaz Santillan picks up the story:

"I explained that I was married and our economic situation in Mexico was very bad...no job, no food, no place to live and that is why we came here...and that is why I need help... Ms. Whitman just laughed (Nicki starts to cry)...

"Dr. Harsh came in and said 'I told you she was going to bring us problems.'

"Ms Whitman said, 'calm down, calm down' (Nicky breaks down and cries).

"I told them I believe in people and I told them people deserve a chance. I told them I don't wish them any harm.

"Ms.. Whitman said 'I don't know what I can do but let me see what my lawyer can do.'

"On Wednesday June 29 she called me, 'I talked to my lawyer and he told me can not do anything for you she said, I cannot help and don't say anything to my children, I will tell them you have a new job, and have gone to school....I don't know you, and you don't know me, I have never seen you, and you have never seen me, understand' (continues to cry)"
She throws me away like a piece of garbage

I'm doing this because I know there are a lot of Meg's out there...."

Nicky Diaz Santillan is still an illegal, undocumented worker in the U.S. and it is unclear whether she will be deported or not. Her immigration lawyer is Marc Van Derhoot and he said they are exploring their options to help Nicky stay and work in the U.S.


Gloria Allred is a Democratic supporter who has donated money the Jerry Brown campaign.

Prior to the news conference Meg Whitman's campaign said they will fight against the accusations

Whitman spokeswoman Andrea Rivera called Allred a "shameful manipulator" and questioned the timing of her announcement, which comes less than five weeks before the election.

In a conference call prior to the Allred news conference, the Whitman campaign added this response.


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.



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0
YankeeJim

Well, this isn't right. Is Meg following the employer tax filing rules? Hiring illegals is illegal and that is just the start.

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gman 326

OK, so Ms. Santillan entered the country illegally, lied and presented false documents to Meg Whitman in order to get a job.  Meg paid her a very generous wage including all of the required withholding taxes etc (not under the table). When Meg discovered Ms. Santillan’s true status, Meg offered to talk to her attorney on Ms. Santillan’s behalf.  Evidently Meg’s attorney advised her to fire Ms. Santillan and not to take on her case. Ms. Santillan violated several laws to gain employment.  When Meg Whitman discovered the truth she fired her as any law abiding citizen would. How is Meg the villain here?  The villain is Allred. I am missing anything?

0
"thirty-aught-six"

States have an unconditional obligation to look after those whom they have allowed through negligence of upholding the rule of law to reside and work illegally with in that State.  Especially if you are a sanctuary State. Then the moral and ethical responsibility becomes ipso facto,    meaning that a certain effect is a direct consequence of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a subsequent action.

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Edgar A Martinez

Make E-verify mandatory. I applaud Meg Whitman for firing her. She perjured herself on her INS and W4 forms. $23 an hour! I know many unemployed americans who would gladly work for that.

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scott a ortiz

I  just recently moved to Los Angeles from Portland Ore and for sure i am voting for Jerry Brown ! Mrs Whitman may know how to build company's but after this incident her true colors come out !! she looks to be a real B---H !!! I think Jerry will do alot better and has feelings for people !!!!   

0
Gunilla

Do you know something the rest of us don't know? I'm waiting to see how it plays out! I'm not sure we know the whole truth!

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cecil

What a situation. Avenge revenge inhumanity alleged and yet the lawyer couldnt or decided not to try and make her legal. Where is the duty of care if she cared without complaint for 9 years possibly children and housework. Ok she is owed nothing monetarily but morally the judicial system should without setting precedent be able to deal with exceptional cases on a case by case basis. I think once all the evidence on all sides is produced humanity ought to win out hopefully in this ladys favour. Unfortunately political expediency if true though getting proof of this will be difficult seems to take power over the powerless, and its fairly obvious the woman in this situation has been, is and will likely remain powerless now to the I.N.S and likely be powerless to the judicial system. How wrong no decency. 

0
dac

I find it strange that a past employee who was overly paid and given a place to stay with insured amount of hours is now coming out as an abused victim with this countries most notorious joke of an ambulance chaser lawyer (allred was even in a cameo in the movie rat race proving her ridicuous "this is outrageous they will pay" line she is very infamous for). I think this actually hurts jerry browns bid for govenor which makes me wonder is this being pulled out by his side or a clever tactic by whitmans side gaining sympathy as being taken in by a dishonest employee who wronged her and her family. Showing also whitman as a law abiding citizen who can make the painful descisions that hurt (letting go a family type employee who was close to her and her children but right must be on the side of the law and so regretfully did her duty and let her go but wished her well, and left her children with good memories of the former employee instead of telling the kids outright that the woman who took care of them had been lying to them and using the family for 9 years) Also portraying whitman as a kind woman for not turning her in to the authorities and having her outright deported which she actually should have done if she was following the letter of the law. Because she did not, she did enough to show a love of country but not too much showing a love of humanity, putting her in the place of a martyr and a kinder less cold light than previously shown to be a cold calculating business woman who wants to go after the poor for the money needed to get california back on it's feet. If jerry brown was really playing dirty pool wouldn't he be asking why whitmans main plan for reform (getting money for californias overwhelming debt) is to go after those on welfare by claiming lets get the funds through welfare reform- well how can that help right now when the whole country is in recession many middleclass families are now on unemployement and welfare and actually need the funds currently available! by removing this source of help through "reform" isn't it  a way to keep the rich, richer and the middleclass to keep disapearing into the poorest of the poor? I would think if jerry was out to get whitman he or someone smart in his employ would point this fact out! all of this leads me to wonder if this little farce of a fiasco might have been orchestrated by whitmanns campaine.

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waywardirish

Lets not forget that she's "illegal". Buh-bye you broke the law. Everything after is moot.

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g-man 326

OK, so Ms. Santillan entered the country illegally and presented false documents to Meg Whitman to get the job. Meg Whitman paid Ms. Santillan a very generous wage including the required witholding (not under the table).  Then when Meg discoverd that she was illegal, Meg offered to talk to her attorney on Ms. Santillan's behalf.  Meg's attorney evidently advised her to fire Ms. Santillan and not to take on Ms. Santillans case. So how is Meg Whitman guilty of anything except providing a good job with a more than fair wage? Ms. Santillan decieved Meg Whitman and violated several laws in order to get the job.  When Meg Whitman discoverd the truth about Ms. Santillan she fired her as any law abiding citizen should have done. Am I missing something?

0
gman 326

OK, so Ms. Santillan entered the country illegally, lied and presented false documents to Meg Whitman in order to get a job.  Meg paid her a very generous wage including all of the required withholding taxes etc (not under the table). When Meg discovered Ms. Santillan’s true status, Meg offered to talk to her attorney on Ms. Santillan’s behalf.  Evidently Meg’s attorney advised her to fire Ms. Santillan and not to take on her case. Ms. Santillan violated several laws to gain employment.  When Meg Whitman discovered the truth she fired her as any law abiding citizen would. How is Meg the villain here?  The villain is Allred. I am missing anything?

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John G.

An unexpected turn?  Since when is digging up ridiculous allegations against a Republican candidate unexpected?  If the intent of the allegation is shame...isn't hiring someone that desperately needs help a humane act?  If the intent of the allegation is hipocrisy...you can be 100% against illegal immigration yet help those people that need it, illegal immigrant or not.  By the way, the 2nd to last sentence of the article should have been mentioned in the beginning...but that would ruin a good story.

0
Ronny L

What a joke, nicky diaz who entered this country illeagaly and used a fake social security number to obtain a job that paid 23.00 dollars an hour filed a complaint that she wasn't reimbursed for milage, did mrs diaz have a valid license or insurance, nicky diaz also claimend the firing was poltical are you kidding me and why isn't jerry brown who is california top law enforcement officer prosecting nicky diaz for fraud why hasen't she been turned over to customs and immagration,  gloria allred has put her client in jeporady by having her admitt to the media that she commited a felony, both jerry brown and gloria allred should be disbarred instead of being praised.

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coffee1st

Are you people BLIND? As soon as Gloria and Jerry are done using Nicky - you'll never see or hear from her again. Period. Using a human being as a pawn is far more disgusting than firing your housekeeper because she lied to you about being in the country legally.  By the way - I've looked and looked, and although I see a lot of face wiping by Nicky - I can't detect a single actual tear....  wake up you sheep.

0
OctoberSurprise

Yankee Jim, you miss the point. The agency verified that Diaz could legally work in the U.S., but Diaz lied. Whitman verified that Diaz could legally work in the U.S., but Diaz lied. The letter concerning mis-matched Social Security information Specifically States that it is not to be inferred that the person in question is illegal and that firing the person based on the letter would be wrong. When Diaz Admitted that she Lied, then (and only then) Whitman had a duty to fire her... which she did. Whitman did nothing wrong. Diaz, on the other hand, has done many things wrong.  She entered the country illegally.  She lied to the employment agency.  She lied to the Whitmans.  She lied on Federal forms she filled out. The Brown campaign Knew about the Allred/Diaz "October Surprise" ahead of time, and the SEIU released an Ad within 12 hours after the press release.  Smells funny, don't you think. This is Jerry Brown playing dirty politics and trying to derail his opponent with a smear campaign.  Gloria Allred is a Brown supporter and a liberal democrat, and she's more interested in scoring cheap political points than caring about the interests of her client... who she has now exposed to legal action concerning multiple violations of the law. The only thing "wrong" here is that the media doesn't expose this cheap ploy for what it is.  If Whitman was trying to hire an illegal, she would have paid her "under the table", and she would have paid her a low wage... instead Whitman paid her over three times the minimum wage and paid the withholding taxes, and Whitman (and the agency) went to great lengths to verify that Diaz was legal. It isn't their fault that Diaz Lied to them.

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taxpayer

Nicky Diaz is an example of why birthright citizenship must be repealed to protect the taxpayers.  She has had 3 children born in the US.  What do you bet the taxpayers paid for the births? She is probably now collecting welfare for the gang.  If the children were not citizens the taxpayers would not be on the hook for their care. Eventually thiefs like Nicky would get the idea of family planning if they had to pay for their children.  Now taxpayers are responsible and thieves like Nicky keep on procreating and taking money from  the system.

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Illegal Alien Report

Whether Meg Whitman knew her nanny was illegal or not she should have done the proper checks before hiring. I read somewhere that she was paid above minimum wage making her job one that an American would have wanted, which makes hiring an illegal alien a slap in the face to her constituency.

- Illegal Alien Report

0
Black Army Vet

Wow Illegal Mexicans,  Im warning u all to stay away from them.  They are trouble.  Police officers are scared to arrest them because they bring up racism and all kinds of stuff.  Illegal is illegal.  this is Obamas America.  He is destroying the nation of laws.

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Amy Judd
First Flagged at 11:10 AM, Sep 29, 2010 by Amy Judd
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