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San Jose, Calif. • In a devastating blow to Meg Whitman's gubernatorial campaign, a famed Los Angeles attorney said Thursday that Whitman's husband had jotted a note to their housekeeper on a Social Security Administration letter aimed at alerting the couple to the fact that the housekeeper was using a Social Security number that didn't belong to her.
At a news conference in her Los Angeles office, attorney Gloria Allred displayed a huge copy of the letter showing a signature, purportedly that of Dr. Griffith Harsh, to the media.
The note told Nicandra Diaz Santillan, a 39-year-old undocumented immigrant from Union City, Calif., to "look into this."
"Meg Whitman lied to the press and the public," Allred charged.
The Whitman campaign had no immediate response to Allred's comments.
Political analysts predicted that the issue could persuade many undecided voters to not vote for Whitman.
"The issue here is character," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University. "If something happens one time, people are willing to overlook it as an aberration. But if it seems to be part of a pattern, that's when the red flag goes up. That's when undecided voters take a second look at the character issues."
Whitman called the accusation a "smear campaign" that is linked to her opponent Jerry Brown's campaign for governor.
"I absolutely think this is linked to the Brown campaign, 100 percent," Whitman said at a news conference.
She also suggested the former housekeeper may have intercepted a letter from the government indicating she was in the country illegally.
The tech billionaire said the allegations made by the former housekeeper are "completely untrue." Whitman said she fired her former housekeeper in June 2009, four months after announcing her candidacy for governor.
Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Brown campaign, dismissed Whitman's comment as a "vain attempt at misdirection."
"What's behind all this is that Meg Whitman, after two years of demanding that employers be held account for immigration enforcement, has an undocumented immigrant working for her for nine years," Clifford said. "She needs to focus on that right now."
Diaz Santillan hired high-profile attorney Allred to represent her.
Whitman said she first learned Diaz Santillan was in the United States illegally on a Saturday in June 2009. Whitman said her first reaction to the news was that she probably would have to fire the housekeeper but wanted to first consult her attorney. Whitman said she spoke to her attorney and then called Diaz Santillan and fired her.
"Nicky was our housekeeper; a great employee and extended member of the family," Whitman said, with her husband standing by her side during the news conference. "When she confessed she falsified her hiring documents, we were surprised and shocked. We saw Nicky as part of our family. Once we learned she was an illegal worker, we had no choice but to terminate her. It was one of the hardest things we had to do."
Whitman said Diaz Santillan worked about 15 hours a week and was paid $23 an hour. Whitman said she used an employment agency to hire Diaz Santillan and was provided documentation that the housekeeper was in the country legally. Whitman said the agency provided a Social Security number, driver's license and I-9 form.