First Selectman Fred Camillo: Hold the Hateful Nurse Accountable!

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The Issue

On June 2, 2026, an Indian-American woman was subjected to unprompted racism at a ShopRite in Stamford, Connecticut by another shopper. Even as she was being filmed, the racist shopper would make cruel demands such as "go back to your country" and "stay out of America." I identified the aggressor and we were shocked to learn she's a Licensed Practical Nurse at The Nathaniel Witherell, Greenwich's own town-owned assisted-living nursing home, working directly with elderly residents.

The Nathaniel Witherell said it was "deeply troubled" by the video and decided to investigate. Good start. Except by July 23, according to the victim's own update, the facility had finished that review and quietly brought the hateful nurse back to work like nothing happened.

Think about what that means. A woman who screamed at a stranger in a grocery store to "go back to your country" now clocks in every day to care for elderly residents, some of whom are exactly the kind of vulnerable, diverse population she showed she has contempt for. The victim said it best: nursing homes should be places where every resident is treated with dignity regardless of race, and a facility that reinstates someone like this after a public racist outburst is telling residents and their families it doesn't take that seriously.

The Nathaniel Witherell is town-owned. That means the buck stops with the Town of Greenwich, not just an internal HR review. We're calling on First Selectman Fred Camillo to order a real, independent review of their bigoted nurse's continued employment, remove her from any resident-facing role immediately, and commit publicly to holding town-owned facilities to the standard they claim to have instead of quietly reinstating employees when the cameras move on.

Fred Camillo is a politician and he's treating this like a culture war, but I strongly believe people of all political parties are in agreement that keeping this nurse is not only unsafe, but a liability for the facility. He claims that the reactions from the public are worse than the racism that sparked all of this. This is illogical politician speak and we reject it. Any adult understands that the original cruelty is the source of the problem. We never promoted harassment or threats, he must've provoked that on his own time. We simply want accountability.

Sign this petition and tell First Selectman Camillo: Greenwich residents deserve better than a quiet reinstatement.

Paid partnership. ThatDanesh Guy is a Change Ambassador who receives compensation in connection with this petition.

The Decision Makers

Mairead Painter
Mairead Painter
Connecticut State Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Responded
“Thank you for reaching out and bringing these concerns to my attention. Unfortunately, the broader matter you described does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. However, if a resident or resident representative has experienced or witnessed abusive language, retaliation, discrimination, or other conduct affecting a resident’s rights, they are welcome to contact my office and file a complaint. Our office will review and investigate the complaint consistent with the direction and consent of the resident or resident representative. The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program strongly opposes discrimination, abuse, retaliation, or mistreatment of any kind. That said, the larger issue raised appears to be a local municipal and union matter and would need to be addressed through the appropriate local channels. Thank you again for reaching out. MAIREAD PAINTER State Long Term Care Ombudsman Connecticut Aging and Disability Services [Note: The Change.org Civic Engagement Team reaches out to decision makers to let them know about petitions in their community and to help facilitate engagement with supporters. The above was an email response we received regarding this petition.]”
Fred Camillo
Greenwich Town First Selectman

Supporter Voices

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