Whitman Under Fire for Employing Illegal Alien

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright October 1, 2010
All Rights Reserved.                                

            Telling a national TV audience at her Sept. 28 debate with Democratic Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown that she’d get tough on employers hiring illegal aliens, former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman has been accused of employing an undocumented worker for nine years.  “Absolutely not true,” said Meg, denying she knew anything about “Nicky’s” immigration status.  “Neither my husband or I received any letter from Social Security,” not denying that she employed an illegal alien.  Whitman and her husband Dr. Griffith Harsh, deny they knew their housekeeper was illegal, until she revealed her true immigration status in June 2009.  Whitman claims she fired her on the spot.  Prior to Allred going public Sept. 29, Whitman never disclosed she accidentally employed an illegal alien.  Now she claims, after nine years of employment, she was duped by her employee and employment agency.  

          Whitman’s defense, a heard Sept. 30 on KNX 1070 News Radio, Los Angles, involves she knew nothing about her employee’s immigration status, before she informed her June 2009.  Atty. Gloria Allred, representing Whitman’s former employee Nicanda Diaz Santillan, produced a compelling letter from Social Security April 22, 2003 informing Whitman that her employee’s social security number didn’t match her name.  Handwritten on the same letter was a note from Whitman’s husband:  “Nicky, please check this, thanks.”  Whitman and Harsh insisted they never saw any document from Social Security questioning Diaz’s Social Security number.  Whitman, in her own press conference, suggested that Nicky might have intercepted the letter, preventing her or Harsh from seeing the document.  Yet Harsh’s note appears clearly scribed on the seven-and-a-half-year-old document.

               Whitman now claims that Allred has colluded with the Brown campaign and Democratic Party in a dirty trick to discredit her.  Meg’s press secretary indicated Sept. 29 that Allred’s disclosures was purely motivated by the political left.  “The letter indicated that the Social Security number provided to the employer . . . did not match Nicky’s name,” read the April 22, 2003 document.  Despite blaming the political left, neither Whitman nor her spokesperson deny that the 54-year-old gubernatorial candidate hired and employed an illegal alien.  Whitman and her husband insist that they had no knowledge of Nicky’s illegal status prior to June 2009.  Allred claims she has more documents proving that the immigration-tough candidate turned a blind eye to her housekeepr’s illegal status.  Whitman calls for harsh sanctions against employers that hire and employ undocumented workers.

              Whitman’s defense involves ignorance or the law.  While she denies knowing anything about Nicky’s immigration status, she makes the same excuse as she made in 1998 when she hired Goldman Sachs to take Ebay public.  Three years later she was named to Goldman Sach’s Board and given $1.78 million in IPO shares that she promptly cashed.  She was fined and forced to repay $3 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Whitman said she didn’t know then she violated any SEC rules.  Her denials today about employing and illegal alien reflect the same excuse that she didn’t know what was going on.  Whether Allred can prove she knew Nicky’s illegal status or not, her ignorance exposes serious flaws in her fitness and judgment to run the state of California.  Accusing Allred of a political dirty trick, Whitman now exposes herself to even more scrutiny.

              Claiming ignorance opens up a can of worms for the business savvy former Ebay CEO, whose major appeal involves her self-declared sophistication and vigilance.  Letting her housekeeper slip under the immigration radar screen shows that she’s just as vulnerable as anyone else or, as Allred suggests, she ignored Nicky’s immigration status.  Whitman first insisted that she or her husband never received any letter from Social Security.  Now that Allred produced the document, her story shifted to the letter was about fixing a possible problems with payroll taxes.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if Social Security numbers don’t match, there could be a problem with her employee immigration status.  Whitman knows she can’t feign ignorance or blame the matter on the employment agency.  All employers bear the same responsibility of checking immigration status.

            Whitman’s defense has shifted around, now claiming that she had no clue before June 2009 about her housekeeper’s immigration status.  Changing stories about first not seeing a Social Security document to seeing one and misinterpreting its intent suggest that Whitman isn’t telling the truth.  Blaming the whole matter on leftist dirty tricks plays well to the Tea Party and Whitman’s base but not to independents considering casting their vote to former Ebay executive.  Accusing Allred of colluding with the Democratic Party could boomerang, forcing the celebrity attorney put out more and more evidence contradicting Whitman’s explanations.  Whitman’s hardcore base won’t change their minds before Election Day.  Whitman’s housekeeper-gate scandal could impact the remaining !8% of largely undecided independent voters.  More adverse publicity only hurts her chances on Nov. 2.

About the Author  

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.