Trouble With The Help For Meg Whitman

California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is having some trouble with the help. Namely, her former housekeeper of nine years who today revealed herself as an undocumented worker amid claims that Whitman was an abusive employer.

Flanked by attorney Gloria Allred, former Whitman employee Nicandra Diaz made the accusations at a tearful Los Angeles press conference Wednesday. Diaz said she asked Whitman for help with her immigration status in 2009 and Whitman refused. "I felt like she was throwing me away like a piece of garbage," Diaz said. Whitman responded to the charges in a statement Wednesday. "After nine years of faithful service, Nicky came to us in June 2009 and confessed that she was an illegal worker," the statement reads. "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." Whitman continued: "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."

Gloria Allred says her client was "exploited, disrespected, humiliated and emotionally and financially abused." I don't think there's much to see here, actually. Whitman supposedly terminated the woman immediately upon learning about her status, which clears her from charges of hypocrisy about her immigration positions. As for the abuse claims, remember this is prime opportunist Gloria Allred. I wish there could be some actual meat to this story, but I doubt it. It'll depend on how the housekeeper plays in the Spanish press, I'd guess.