The Republican candidate for Governor of California, has been accused of knowingly employing an illegal immigrant from Mexico as her housekeeper for nine years.
By Nick Allen in Los Angeles
Published: 11:59PM BST 29 Sep 2010
Meg Whitman, the billionaire former chief executive of eBay, has repeatedly called for tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers and immigration is a key issue in the state.
Nicky Diaz, the Mexican maid, worked in the would-be governor's home from 2000 to 2009, when she was fired....
...At her press conference a tearful Miss Diaz claimed Miss Whitman "threw me away like a piece of garbage" after she went to her in June 2009 to discuss her illegal immigrant status, and to ask for help finding an immigration lawyer.
She claimed Miss Whitman told her: "You don't know me, I have never seen you and you have never seen me. Do you understand?"
The maid added: "I was shocked and hurt that Miss Whitman would treat me this way after nine years." She is filing a claim with the California Department of Industrial Relations for unpaid wages and mileage.
Miss Whitman said the allegations that Miss Diaz was underpaid and exploited were "without merit." She said the maid came to her in June 2009 and admitted using her sister's documents to gain employment. At that point she "immediately terminated Nicky's employment".
*A Tea Party novice who has become Delaware's Republican candidate for the Senate has been accused of "misleading" the public by claiming she studied at Oxford University.
Christine O'Donnell included Oxford on her CV on the business networking website LinkedIn. The course however was not run by Oxford but the Phoenix Institute, a group that runs summer courses in rooms at the university.
