Sabina Bhatia, daughter of Rose International CEO Himanshu Bhatia of San Juan Capistrano, gave the following statement on allegations from former domestic worker Sheela Ningwal:
“There is not a morsel or even a nugget of truth to Sheela’s claims. Her story is complete fiction.
“I can’t tell you how shocked, saddened and betrayed my mom is that Sheela Ningwal would say these things that are completely false. My mom and dad—all of us in fact—treated Sheela like family. She ate with us and socialized with us. There are tons of photos and videos of these memories. My mom even cared and cooked for her when she was sick.
“For Sheela to say these completely false, awful and hurtful things to the U.S. Department of Labor, and use the government like this, is beyond words. People like Sheela should not be allowed to manipulate a system that was designed to help real victims.
“The truth is exactly the opposite of what Sheela claims. She is not a victim.
“My mother is as much a warm, loving and caring person as she is a hard-working entrepreneur.
“It is unfortunate that successful business leaders can so easily become the target of such baseless and false allegations.”
The U.S. government accuses the IT staffing company founder, who has two homes in San Juan Capistrano and an office in Irvine, of making Ningwal work 15.5 hours a day, seven days a week, and sleep on a carpet in a garage near Bhatia's dogs, even when she was ill.
I knew this family many years back. Himanshu was kindest woman and hard to believe she could mistreat another person like this. On other hand, It is not unheard of in India that domestic help maids come up with flimsy lawsuits for quit financial gains. It is indeed shame system can be so easily manipulated.