Nurses union linked Whitman-maid scandal

November 23rd, 2010, 10:59 am
Martin Wisckol, Politics reporter

After nearly two months of speculation over who helped housekeeper Nicky Diaz Santillan deliver her damaging attack on Meg Whitman and her gubernatorial campaign, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the California Nurses Union was behind the move.

As you may recall, Diaz Santillan and celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred held a Sept. 29 press conference in which they described how Diaz Santillan had worked for Whitman for nine years and then was abruptly fired as Whitman launched her campaign.

Diaz Santillan said she asked Whitman for help in becoming a legal immigrant, while Whitman said she hadn’t known before that moment that her maid was in the country illegally.

Watching Whitman’s campaign and feeling the sting of being fired, Diaz Santillan wanted to get her story out, according to Carla Marinucci’s story in the Chronicle. A friend knew a member of the nurses union, which had launched a sarcastic anti-Whitman “Queen Megâ€