Meg Whitman’s Track Record With Women of Color

If you’re following the California gubernatorial race, you’ve more than likely seen the headlines about candidate Meg Whitman’s “nanny problem,” as Politico.com put it. Apparently, when Whitman learned that her longtime housekeeper Nicky Diaz Santillan was an undocumented immigrant, she fired Santillan. Now Santillan has filed a lawsuit against the woman who employed her for nine years, asking for back wages and unreimbursed mileage.

Because her former housekeeper alleges that Whitman knew all along that she was undocumented but abruptly dismissed her upon entering the gubernatorial race, the media is making this out to be an immigration controversy. And who can blame them, especially since as recently as Tuesday Whitman said during a debate with rival Jerry Brown that employers who hire undocumented immigrants should be held responsible. But I have a different take. I’m concerned about Whitman’s track record with women of color in her employ.

Santillan isn’t just asking for back pay from Whitman, after all. She’s alleging that working for Whitman was a “nightmare," according to lawyer Gloria Allred. During a press conference Wednesday, Allred said that Whitman "exploited, disrespected, humiliated, and emotionally and financially abused” Santillan. The former housekeeper, who appeared by Allred’s side, tearfully accused Whitman of treating her as if she were not human.

I’m sure some of you are skeptical. “Cry me a river,” you’re thinking. It’s easy to write this off as another scandal fueled by the politics of “personal destruction,” as Whitman described it. But before you dismiss Santillan as a money-hungry opportunist, consider that she’s not the first female employee of color Whitman has had trouble with. Although Whitman called her former housekeeper’s charges meritless, she has not denied initiating a physical altercation with a Korean-American employee named Young Mi Kim in June 2007.

Then, Whitman was eBay’s president and CEO. Kim was prepping Whitman for a news interview with Reuters when Whitman reportedly cursed at and shoved Kim because she felt the employee hadn’t adequately equipped  her to be interviewed. Kim responded to the incident by getting a lawyer but ultimately settled the matter with Whitman out of court.

Whitman’s take on the incident?  “In any high-pressure working environment, tensions can surface," she said in a statement in June. “Young Mi and I had a professional disagreement, which we put behind us. She and I continued to work together at eBay...”

I’ve no doubt that stress in the workplace leads to conflict, but it doesn’t usually lead to violence. Moreover, I’m curious as to why the employees Whitman’s been accused of mistreating are women of color. I don’t know if Whitman really emotionally abused and exploited Santillan, nor do I know what led her to shove Kim, but I’ve little doubt that if a white male candidate had this alleged history with minority women, more controversy would’ve followed these charges.

Unfortunately, women of color remain at the bottom of the totem pole in the American workplace. If Whitman has indeed treated these vulnerable American workers any differently than, say, her white male employees, it’s a huge red flag about her character. Moreover, one of the most prominent candidates to endorse Whitman is a woman of color herself—Condoleezza Rice.

How would Whitman treat Rice if she were in her employ?

Photo Credit: Erik Hersman