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Whitman answers questions about altercation with EBay employee

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Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman admitted Thursday that a confrontation with a subordinate at EBay in 2007 became physical, but said that her behavior was an “anomaly” and doesn’t speak to her temperament. Whitman and her campaign had previously characterized the incident as a ‘verbal dispute’ and suggested it was a run-of-the-mill clash in the high-pressure business world. The incident led to a settlement with the subordinate that has been estimated at $200,000.

“It escalated and I … escorted her out of the room and then I went back to what I needed to do in that meeting,” Whitman told reporters after a campaign event at a sneaker and sports apparel shop in South Gate. Pressed for details, the former EBay chief executive officer said she “physically guided her out of the conference room into a hallway.”

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Thursday marked the first time the candidate has been seen publicly since the New York Times reported the allegations on June 14. The paper reported that the incident occurred in June 2007 at the company’s San Jose headquarters, as EBay communications employee Young Mi Kim was helping Whitman prepare for an interview with Reuters. The story was based on interviews with current and former employees at the online auction firm who declined to give their names because the matter was ‘deemed to be strictly confidential,’ the paper said.

Rival Jerry Brown’s campaign accused Whitman of changing her story.

“Meg Whitman can’t decide what happened in the boardroom at EBay with an employee,” Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for Brown, said in a written statement. “Was it a verbal confrontation, was it a shove, or something more serious? Was it an anomaly, or the kind of thing that happens all the time? The only thing that is clear is that Whitman doesn’t want to tell the whole story, and EBay shareholders paid $200,000 to keep it secret.”

Clifford questioned whether she could handle the pressure of working in the dysfunctional state capital.

“Can Whitman keep her temper in check long enough to address the breakdown in Sacramento?” Clifford said.

-- Seema Mehta in Los Angeles Times

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