Nanny Sues Imus Over Ranch Wrangle (Toy gun, tiny knife triggered woman's firing by radio star)

The Smoking Gun ^ | NOVEMBER 30

[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.

[wtc911]

Imus wears a large caliber hand gun in plain sight unless he's wearing a jacket, has for years.

[dljordan]

This is a guy who has a carry permit in New York?

[newgeezer]

Imus's five-year-old son

God, bless that child. Despite his environment, don't let him grow up stupid.

[Prime Choice]

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.

Last I saw, this woman is suing Imus for calling her a terrorist and claiming he "disarmed" her.

[eno_]

Imus wears a large caliber hand gun in plain sight unless he's wearing a jacket, has for years.

AFAIK, "open carry" is specifically illegal in New York, especially for a concealed carry permit holder.

Refreshingly enough, it is perfectly legal in New Hampshire, no permit required.

[new cruelty]

Noted. Please see post 33.

[new cruelty]

Of course, I meant post 32.

[newgeezer]

I once employed a nanny from France. Her sister was a runway model. That didn't last long.

What, you hired the sister, too?

[eno_]

Oh fat chance of that!

6 feet tall, thin as a rail, and didn't seem to own any bras (which would be sized a perky yet compact B-cup).

I remember the details of that situation very well.

[Antoninus]

I didn't realize that there was anyone left who didn't realize that the Imus Ranch is a boon-doggle to extort money from idiotic rich celebrities.

[newgeezer]

Okay, now you've definitely crossed the line. Longstanding (if unwritten) FR policy specifically requires you to post PICTURES.

Waiting...

[B.O. Plenty]

There have been times when people have suggested that the ranch is a scam...and Imus really gets irate and insulted.

As for me...I have thought for a long time that that the Imus Ranch is a neat vacation place for Imus and his friends. The ranch is about 4000 acres and the main complex is apparently way back out of sight of any road. I would imagine that the entrance is guarded. I think Imus travels by private jet to Santa Fe....but IMHO the tip off whether the ranch is Imus vacation place will be when a landing strip is built on the ranch......

[ppaul]

Trailblazers Deirdre & Don Imus

Every summer Deirdre, Wyatt, and Don Imus host groups of kids with cancer and other illnesses at their 4,000-acre Imus Ranch in New Mexico. Doing good works is something Don and Deirdre always had in common: Before they met, Don had hosted an annual radiothon to benefit the Tomorrows Children's Fund and the CJ Foundation for SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Deirdre was committed to the environment see Rules for a Healthy Home , a passion that eventually led her to start the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology—which replaces toxic cleaning products with green ones in hospitals, homes, and businesses across the country.

During June, July, and August groups of 10 kids stay for nine days at a time and spend the time doing chores and learning the basics of handling horses. The young ranchers might gather eggs, groom horses, mend a fence, or move stones. "They have a blast," says Erika Leeuwenburgh, who coordinates the child-life program at the Imus Ranch. "They work, but it's very fulfilling, and there are art projects every night and lots of raiding the refrigerator. It's a community experience in an incredibly beautiful, wide-open space that most of the kids are in awe of."

The roll-up-your-sleeves aspect of the ranch seems to be deeply beneficial. "This is not a place where kids get a pat on the head and are told 'everythings okay,'" says Jurist. "They are responding to the realness of it." Deirdre confirms this and adds: "Don and I run a very tight ship. We're very businesslike with these kids." (But after dinner and chores, Don will play hide-and-go-seek.)

Doing good works is something Don and Deirdre always had in common: Before they met, Don had hosted an annual radiothon to benefit the Tomorrows Childrens Fund and the CJ Foundation for SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Deirdre was committed to the environment, a passion that eventually led her to start the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology—which replaces toxic cleaning products with green ones in hospitals, homes, and businesses across the country.


Clockwise from top left: one of the longhorn cows on the vegetarian ranch; a roping lesson; riding with Charly and Gibson, the ranch's dogs; harvesting veggies in the greenhouse.

The idea for the Imus Ranch began to take shape in early 1998 after Don brought Deirdre out to the ranch in northern Arizona where he had grown up. Deirdre recalls: "My husband says, Those were the best days of my life. We were working hard, and we had all these chores to do every day. We had a tremendous sense of purpose and responsibility.'"

That sense of purpose, they thought, was in marked contrast to what they noticed about the kids they met during the radiothons, many of whom seemed to have low self-esteem and little self-confidence. "I remember the day it came together," Deirdre writes of the ranch in her forthcoming cookbook, The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys , which will be in stores next month. "Don was in his office preparing for an interview. I was pregnant with Wyatt and working out on a treadmill. Suddenly, Don burst in, yelling, 'I've got it!' If you know Don, you know he's not the type to get terribly worked up over things."

The couple put up about $1.5 million of their own money for the land, and private and corporate sponsors joined in with $25 million. Listeners who gave $5,000 got their names etched in stone tablets in the foyer of the ranchs adobe hacienda, the jewel in an eco-friendly compound in which a barn, general store, and "saloon" are built of wood that's recycled or salvaged. The main house is insulated with bales of straw. "It's the most efficient way to save energy," notes Deirdre. "It's naturally fire-resistant, it doesn't allow air between the walls, and it's totally nontoxic."

The air in the hacienda is UV-filtered, eliminating 99 percent of germs, and the pool water is purified through solar-powered pods, drastically reducing the amount of chlorine needed. Playful features are as important to the design as technological advances: There's a dance hall with a jukebox and a pool table, for instance, and the general store is where the kids get outfitted in jeans, silver-buckled belts, boots, and cowboy hats. A medical infirmary was designed to look like a saloon; it has a genuine 1860s bar and swinging doors. Hospital rooms were "decorated to look like a bordello," Deirdre says, chuckling.

[Straight Vermonter]

Gotta love a vegetarian cattle ranch. Idiots.

[Rebelbase]

Imus has no relevance in my life.

[Banjoguy]

(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.)

I don't think so. It has a fully equipped radio broadcast studio. It houses Imus and his 'family.' Obviously they will remain there. The kids are there some of the time not all of the time, and then only 8 or so children.

I have never understood why the siblings of children who have died from SIDS need this.

You can probably tell by my tone that I view this whole enterprise in a suspicious light. I wonder how the donors were taken in by this fool and his wierd wife, Dierdre?

[ppaul]

During June, July, and August groups of 10 kids stay for nine days at a time and spend the time doing chores and learning the basics of handling horses.

The couple put up about $1.5 million of their own money for the land, and private and corporate sponsors joined in with $25 million. Listeners who gave $5,000 got their names etched in stone tablets in the foyer of the ranchs adobe hacienda...

Isn't philanthropy great?

[vollmond]

I'd like to offer a small defense here. If a child is being taught to safely handle real guns or will be taught to do so in the future, then I believe they should not be given toy guns to play with. One or the other - you don't want to confuse the issue.

[wtc911]

I've seen him with the silver auto on his right hip in public....more than once.

Imus has received death threats (hard to believe, huh?) and whenever he broadcasts from some public venue, like a broadway theater, he parades around in full display just to let everyone know.

[OldFriend]

Tax shelter...big time scam......