Mills 'Devastated' About Ex-Nanny's Abuse Allegations

Dec. 31, 2008 — -- Heather Mills, the ex-wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney, is said to be devastated after a former nanny filed a legal claim against her alleging sexual discrimination and unreasonable working conditions.

Sara Trumble, who worked for Mills for four years until resigning in September, claims that her work went beyond minding 5-year-old Beatrice, Mills' daughter with McCartney. She says Mills required her to blow-dry her hair, work unreasonable hours and spray-tan her naked body.

Joe Dolce, a New York-based publicist who represents Mills, told ABCNews.com that Mills has received a copy of Trumble's claim but that the young woman has no case.

Nevertheless, the accusations come as a blow to the 40-year-old, who recently went through a hotly contested divorce from McCartney, from whom she received $35 million.

"Heather is devastated," he said. "For years she has treated Sara as a member of the family."

ABCNews.com was unable to reach Trumble for comment.

The former nanny lodged the accusations in a constructive dismissal claim that she filed last week with an employment tribunal in Ashford, Kent, in England.

The Ashford Employment Tribunal told ABCNews.com that it is "not allowed to either confirm or deny the existence of any case suit filed for the upcoming six months."

According to a British government Web site, an employment tribunal is like a court but not as formal. It decides most employment matters related to unfair dismissals, unemployment payments and discrimination.

A tribunal representative told ABCNews.com that the accused, in this case, Mills, has 28 days in which to respond.

"The time it takes for a case to reach judgment varies with each case and each tribunal," the representative said. "It can be anything up to six months or can be resolved with ACAS [mediation] before hearing."

A source close to Mills told ABCNews.com that Trumble is after money, even though Mills gave her a car as a parting gift. The source also said Mills had allowed Trumble to work part time after she endured a difficult pregnancy and even had paid for a private doctor for the young woman.

Not Just a Nanny

But according to London's Daily Mail, Trumble complained that Mills had her arriving at 7:30 a.m. to blow-dry her hair and that, once in March, she drove to Heathrow Airport at midnight to pick up Beatrice, who had flown from the United States accompanied by a security guard.

According to another British paper, Trumble was also required to give Mills weekly fake-tanning sessions.

In the story's latest development, a two-minute video of Trumble called "Sara Trumble 'My True Story'" was posted on YouTube Sunday night. The video appears to contradict Trumble's claims before the tribunal.

In it, Trumble talks about meeting Mills at a gym where Trumble worked and used to provide beauty treatments such as massages and facials to the former model. When Mills heard that Trumble was leaving the gym, she asked her whether she would be interested in baby-sitting Beatrice on odd weekends. The occasional baby-sitting eventually turned into a full-time job.

"I worked full time looking after Beatrice as a child minder," Trumble says in the video, "and doing the odd beauty treatment on Heather when she had the time to have it done."

Trumble also sings Mills' praises as a mother and employer.

"Heather's given me the chance to work, where no one else would take me because I have a baby," she says in the video. "She's given me this chance so I can bring my daughter to work with me."

And in the video's final clip, Trumble rails against the press, which Mills has often complained has treated her harshly.

"It drives me mad, these stories that come out. And they're all lies, just so many lies," she says, "and you just want to shout and scream at the press and just tell them that it's just rubbish."

Trumble confirmed to the British newspaper the Telegraph that the video was shot by "one of Heather's team" shortly after she started work for Mills, before adding, "I cannot say any more until I speak to my solicitor."

Dolce, Mills' spokesman, denied that Mills ever had Trumble or any of her employees shoot favorable videos. "It's complete and utter horse s--," he said.

He also denied that Mills had anything to do with the YouTube video.

As for Trumble's allegations, he told ABCNews.com that Mills will respond to the tribunal and that there is "no way she [Trumble] is going to have any case."

Mills has garnered a reputation for being difficult. The judge in her divorce case called her behavior "distinctively distasteful" in his final findings in March.

In September, her former PR rep Michele Elyzabeth told a British paper, "Every time I got her a big offer somehow she'd wreck it or turn down the chance. It drove me mad."

ABCNews.com's Gabriel O'Rorke contributed to this report.