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.

[NYCVirago]

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.

Nah, Imus also extorts money from gullible listeners as well.

[Paladin2]

We had a healthy supply of M-80's and Silver Salutes in the neighborhood to perform ant hill excavations and to re-create WWII naval battles using model warships on a friend's pond (good thing the wicks were waterproof as we didn't always get the ballasting correct).

If my parents had just bought a IBM 360 or equivalent for my bedroom, my youth might not have been so wasted.

[Natural Law]

I have only attempted to watch/listen to this pant load a couple of times. In all cases I pulled the plug. He just isn't cool enough, hip enough, smart enough or right enough to be that self centered and condescending. You gotta wonder what is wrong with the people of the East Coast who have kept him employed for so many years.

[carola]

I don't know what he said about Howie Carr's wife, but I recall hearing him say something about former Defense Secretary William Cohen's wife. He said something like Cohen had jungle fever, or something like that. It was a crude reference to her being African American. I don't see how he gets by with it. He says all kinds of insulting things about public personages, but he doesn't have the right to call a former nanny a criminal and a terrorist. I hope she gets just compensation.

[Jeff Gordon]

they also have the right to fire a nanny who doesn't demonstrate the values they espouse

You should read the text of the complaint at smoking gun. They did not just fire her. They escorted her off the ranch in the middle of no where in the middle of night. They did this knowing she had no way to get herself back home to New York or finding shelter.

[Mo1]

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.

Do Children stay there any other time of the year??

And if so .. for how long is the ranch used for this purpose?

[floriduh voter]

Imus' brother is unemployed or is he? Won't be long until his brother Fred's wife leaves him if he doesn't make something of himself again.

[floriduh voter]

I think the kids are only there in the summer months for a brief time.

[ninonitti]

Something to the effect that she was a crack 'ho and yes she sued and yes they settled out of court ala O'Reilly the loofahman

[Rummyfan]

Bump for the Little Light House.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Did you read the account? She brought the cap gun along so she and the Imus child could play cowboys and indians at the ranch. For this and a one and a half inch pocket knife, she gets terminated? I doubt it. There's more to this story.

If Imus and his wife freaked out over a 'pocketknife', they probably have to be defibrollated whenever they go into a restaurant and see a steak knife.

[APFel]

Yeah, I read it. But sometimes items don't register. I even skimmed it again for clarification to make sure I knew what I was talking about before I posted. Still missed it. It happens.

APf

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

She was the kid's nanny. She brought a toy along to entertain little lord Imus. The toy offended king and queen Imus. Yeah, right, I believe that. Thousands wouldn't, Don.

You think maybe queen Imus caught the king being too friendly with nanny?

[Zechariah11]

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

By the way, years ago I lived in Europe for a while. I used to go the co-op and buy apfel juice. Is that a family name?

[beezdotcom]

It doesn't matter. He should be able to fire his nanny for no reason whatsoever,

Yes.

and badmouth her on the radio (as long as he doesn't say her name).

Not necessarily. The next time she applies for a job, and has to state her last place of employment, she is pretty identifiable. He can badmouth her to the extent that it is true - but he can not wrongly defame her in an identifiable way (which it WOULD be to any prospective employer, unless she lies on the job application).

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

On your FReeper homepage (I'm assuming now that you are Jonathan Bartlett) you refer to yourself in the third person. Doesn't that strike Johnny Bartlett as strange?

[APFel]

No, it's a shortened version of my gaming name, [AP]Felon. I shortened it because, while an interesting gaming screen name, it didn't seem appropriate on a political discussion board.

And no, I am not a felon. It's an in-joke between some friends and I (A friend locked his keys in his car, and the police interrupted me as I was trying to coat hanger the door open. After it was all said and done, my friend turned to me and said, "Dude! You're a felon!"

I have since learned of the juice and a liquor called "Apfelkorn". Adds to the mystique, I guess.

APf