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Whitman To Pay Ex-Housekeeper $5,500 In Unpaid Wages

SAN JOSE (CBS 5 / AP) ― Former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman agreed Wednesday to pay her former housekeeper $5,500 in unpaid wages to settle a dispute that erupted in the final month of the campaign.

The settlement was reached during a closed meeting at the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in San Jose.

Whitman did not attend. Her husband, Dr. Griffith Harsh IV, attended with a family lawyer.

The Whitmans did not admit wrongdoing.

KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:

Whitman's campaign began to lose public support after it was revealed that her former housekeeper of nine years was an illegal immigrant.

The former eBay CEO had portrayed herself as tough on immigration and said she fired Nicky Diaz Santillan when she discovered her status.

Diaz Santillan told reporters on Wednesday that she came forward so other housekeepers would not face discrimination.

The news came shortly after a disclosure filed Tuesday with the secretary of state's office revealed that Whitman gave her campaign $2.6 million on Election Day. It brings the total amount spent by the billionaire former eBay CEO to nearly $144.2 million from her personal fortune.

Whitman also raised about $30 million from donors in her first run for office.

She lost to Democrat Jerry Brown. He previously reported raising $37 million, although he also benefited from roughly $30 million in union spending.

Final campaign finance reports must be filed by Jan. 31, 2011.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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