Posted on 11/30/2004 10:49:12 AM PST by new cruelty
NOVEMBER 30--A New York woman who briefly worked as a nanny for Don Imus has sued the radio host for wrongful termination, claiming she was canned for bringing a harmless cap gun and pocketknife with her during a trip last Thanksgiving to the family's sprawling New Mexico ranch.
Nichole Mallette, 24, also claimed in her New York State Supreme Court lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, that she was defamed when Imus later announced on his program that he had been forced to "disarm" his nanny, whom he labeled as dangerous and a "terrorist." In her complaint, filed yesterday by the lawyer who represented the woman who recently accused Bill O'Reilly of various improprieties, Mallette claimed that she brought the cap gun with her so that she and Imus's five-year-old son could "play cowboys" at the 4000-acre ranch.
As for the pocketknife, Mallette noted that the 1-1/2-inch item was never unsheathed from a leather harness affixed to her belt. In her lawsuit, Mallette alleged that she endured "frenzied questioning" by Imus and his wife Deirdre, who woke her at 1 AM to grill her about the pocketknife and the cap gun, which Mallette said she did not use nor show to Imus's son. After Deirdre Imus told her, "Pack your things, you're terminated," Mallette was escorted off the property at 4:15 AM by a ranch employee and the radio host.
Mallette, a Brooklyn resident, was hired by Imus last October 23 and cared for the star's son at homes in Manhattan and Connecticut, as well as the New Mexico property (according to its mission statement, the "sole purpose" of the so-called Imus Ranch is "to provide the experience of the great American cowboy" to seriously ill boys and girls and children who have lost siblings to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Mallette noted that during two separate stays at the ranch, which features a 14,000-square-foot adobe hacienda, "neither sick children nor children who had lost brothers and sisters to SIDS were present," just Imus, his family, and ranch employees.
Along with Imus and his wife, Mallete named as defendants the radio syndicator Westwood One and NBC, which simulcasts Imus's show on its MSNBC cable network.
He may be an idiot and his wife a clueless fool obsessed with demonizing guns, but they also have the right to fire a nanny who doesn't demonstrate the values they espouse. It is their house, and she works for them and follows their directions.
Thanks! :o)
Good point. But she also claims that she was defamed when Imus later announced on his program that he had been forced to "disarm" his nanny, whom he labeled as dangerous and a "terrorist."
I wish I had the Dosh for a four HUNDRED acre ranch, never mind four THOUSAND.
It's about time the IRS took a look at this guy's scam. It appeared most of the cost of the ranch was taken care of by big business in return for him not bad-mouthing them. He takes a few kids down there during the summer and the rest of the year he marvels at his ranch. He's a phoney.
That may be a pretty good guess. Waking someone up at 1 in the morning???
If I remember correctly, he raised the money for the ranch.
Like he HAAAD to fire her at 4;15am????WTF?
He could have done that in the light of day!
She was at the ranch for approx. ten days around Thanksgiving. I would expect that no children would be at staying at the ranch around the occurence of a holiday that is generally spent with family.
I think what he is doing is legitimate. He may not be doing as much as what some people would think he should do.
The children come during school vacations and summer vacations.
Most of Imus' businesses are headquartered there.
Stuff likes this drives me crazy. They have a right to fire whoever they hire to watch their son. I read part of the complaint and it starts off with gratuitous shots at Imus.
Bump.
Ha ha ha. Yeah. I once employed a nanny from France. Her sister was a runway model. That didn't last long.
Sounds like his wife had something against this woman. Maybe she was better looking that his wife, perhaps?
Maybe the wife didn't like Imus "searching" the help at 1AM?
Damn right. I have heard him complain about not having enough kids around to do the chores around the 'ranch'. He's a beady-eyed, pelican-necked, weasel.
Absolutely they can terminate her at any time for any reason. It's called "employment at will" and unless she had a contract, that's what it is.
However, Imus is too stooopid to STFU. He may pay tuition to find out just how stooopid he is, especially if his charity turns out to be a scam.
I recall him remarking on his show once that he fired 21 different nannys in a 12 or 18 month period-even the guys who work with him remarked that he must be the employer from hell.
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