Jon and Kate’s ex nanny speaks out

Should nannies give interviews about the families they’ve worked for?

My disclaimer – I’ve never watched Jon and Kate plus 8 although I have a few friends who are fans.  From what I gather from standing in the grocery store check-out line, Jon and Kate are going through a very tough time and the press is looking for details on their private life to splash all over the tabloid headlines.  Enter the nanny. 

One of Jon and Kate’s ex-nannies recently spoke to Us Weekly.  She didn’t reveal any state secrets.  She didn’t even reveal any big juicy secrets about the family from what the story says.  But the details aren’t the point.  The point is she broke an implied confidence.  I doubt she signed a legally binding confidentiality agreement.  But by simply taking the job, didn’t she – don’t we all – make a commitment to protect the family’s privacy? 

I believe the answer is yes.  Families, as crazy as they might be, have the right to privacy in their own home unless they are putting their children at risk.  Yes, even the ones that open up their entire lives to a reality show.  We don’t get to decide what should and should not be shared about them to the public.  They do.  Imagine the outcry that would echo through the nanny world if employers gave interviews to People and Us Weekly and talked about their nannies.  Reporting how much or little they ate at lunch, their inability to do certain parts of their jobs well, the crazy relationships they have with their boyfriends, their lack of manners or the personal struggles they’re facing. 

When all else is unclear, the golden rule always applies.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 

Of course nannies need a place to vent.  To talk about and find support for the tough issues they face in their jobs.  Especially those nannies that work in the pressure cooker environment that so often comes with a high profile position.  But a gossip column is not that place.