Lawyers Spar Over Octuplets Mom

After octuplets mother Nadya Suleman gave the boot to the free nurses who were helping to care for her children, saying she felt the group was spying on her and reporting her to child welfare officials, attorneys for both Suleman and the fired nurses are giving their versions of what happened.

Jeff Czech, a lawyer for Suleman, told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith his client doesn't need the nurses from Angels in Waiting, because of the nannies she currently employs, adding that the Angels nurses were against Suleman from the beginning.

"Her primary complaint was that, basically, A.I.W. was this Trojan rocking horse, and out popped these nurses," Czech said. "They were not on her side."

Gloria Allred, the attorney for Angels in Waiting, denies that the nurses were trying to set Suleman up.

"These are trained pediatric nurses with tremendous experience," she said. "There were there to try and help her, to support her."

Allred also claims Suleman would only spend time with the babies when cameras were rolling and that she went out shopping instead of caring for her children. Czech says the allegations are untrue, but acknowledges that the extra help from the nurses and nannies did gave Suleman a bit of free time.

"That's why the nurses are there," he added. "To help her out with the babies."

Before any of the octuplets even left the hospital, Allred filed a complaint with child welfare officials asking them to investigate whether Suleman could provide a suitable living environment for her 14 children. A nurse filed another complaint after the media frenzy that occurred when the first two of the octuplets went home. And Suleman had believed that the founder of Angels in Waiting was going to file yet another report over the weekend, escalating the tensions that led her to sever ties with the group earlier this week. According to Allred, the nurses were simply doing their jobs.

"Apparently, Nadya does not understand that a nurse is a legally mandated reporter," she said. "That is, a nurse is required by law to report to authorities if they believe a baby or a child in their care is in danger, at risk, at harm, or neglected."

"They are the voice, the ears of these babies," she continued. "And they need to be able to protect them."