The former marketing director of the Keys’ tourism agency is suing the county, the county commission and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council for violating the Whistleblower Protection Act by firing her in March 2024.
Stacey Mitchell’s lawyer last month filed an amended complaint that also names county clerk Kevin Madok for alleged negligence and one of his employees, Luanne Verner, for alleged defamation.
The lawsuit claims Mitchell was fired for speaking out against an unorthodox funding request and subsequent demands from County Commissioner Craig Cates that the TDC contribute $150,000 to the county’s bicentennial celebration, even though county staff had missed the deadline to submit funding applications to the TDC for special events.
Mitchell was fired in March 2024, four months after the county clerk’s office released a critical audit of the Tourist Development Council, where Mitchell had been marketing director since 2017. The audit revealed “repeated noncompliance with Monroe County’s purchasing policy,” and “a lack of controls and management oversight,” among other findings.
Mitchell’s lawsuit, filed by attorney Zachary Zermay, claims the audit and Mitchell’s subsequent termination were done in retaliation for her refusing to support Cates’ demand for $150,000 of TDC funding and for insisting that funding protocols be followed despite “backroom dealings conducted out of the public view,” the lawsuit states.
The suit details the county’s missed deadline to apply for event funding from the TDC. It describes a July 2022 county budget meeting, where Commissioner Craig Cates reportedly told Mitchell that a drone show and concert would take place for the county’s bicentennial, and asked her for TDC funding for the event.
“(Mitchell) reminded commissioner Cates that the deadline to apply for funding was missed, yet commissioner Cates insisted on finding a way to support the event,” the lawsuit states. “Subsequently, following backroom dealings, meetings and other informal communications hidden from the public, the Board of County Commissioners redirected $150,000 to fund the concert, circumventing the standard approval processes. In violation of (the county’s) own guidelines, rules and regulations, over $150,000 was withdrawn from the TDC’s budget … without the correct transparency processes and public meetings.
“…After the disclosures were made, the drone show occurred, and the checks had been cashed, a campaign of retaliation began against (Mitchell) in the form of audits to serve as a pretextual reason to terminate (her),” the lawsuit alleges.
Verner is named as a defendant in the amended complaint, which alleges defamation on her part, following a social media post she made the day the clerk’s audit was released to the public in which Verner wrote that (Mitchell) “has been stealing for all these years and finally got caught,” and included a link to the clerk’s website.
Verner’s statement was “false, defamatory and libelous, because it accused (Mitchell) of criminal misconduct and professional dishonesty. (Mitchell’s) reputation was trashed, causing loss of employment opportunities, pain, suffering and emotional distress,” her complaint states.
Madok is accused in the lawsuit of negligence for improperly supervising his employee, who made the social media post.
In its response to the amended complaint, the county’s and TDC’s lawyers have asked the judge to dismiss the case against the county and TDC, claiming Mitchell failed to prove any whistleblower claims because Mitchell “never authored any written and signed complaint in compliance with Florida’s Whistleblower Act that could form the basis for a valid whistleblower retaliation claim.”
The motion to dismiss states that Mitchell’s attendance at county and TDC meetings, where she spoke against the improper funding request, are not protected disclosures.
“Plaintiff’s simple participation at various meetings does not transform her attendance into participation ‘in an investigation, hearing or other inquiry conducted by any agency or federal government entity’ as enumerated by Florida Statute,’” the motion to dismiss states.
A hearing via Zoom is scheduled in front of Judge Mark Jones on Thursday, Dec. 11 at 10 a.m.
