CFO’s publicizing of complaint protested
Lawyer seeks probe of Patronis for releasing harassment claim
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis should be investigated for his handling of a harassment complaint against the state’s suspended top financial regulator, according to a lawyer for the woman who filed the complaint.
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office sent the lawyer’s request for an investigation of Patronis to an inspector general probing the allegations against Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Ronald Rubin.
Tallahassee lawyer Tiffany Cruz, who represents the unidentified state worker, asked Moody on Monday to investigate Patronis, who on May 10 released a redacted copy of the complaint made by the employee against Rubin.
“My client made her written complaint with every expectation that the complaint would be made confidential,” Cruz wrote in a letter first reported by the Tampa Bay Times. “Unfortunately, Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis and (Patronis spokeswoman) Katie Strickland, failed to adhere to the requirement of the statute and released a poorly redacted copy of the complaint to the media.”
Cruz added her letter was a formal request and “there can be no dispute that the release of this complaint, even redacted, is a knowing and willful violation of Florida Statutes and should be investigated.”
Moody’s office advised Cruz that the letter was forwarded to become part of the ongoing investigation.
The key part of Cruz’s letter is that Florida law requires employee complaints remain “confidential” while being investigated.
Printed across the top of the Department of Financial Services’ “Sexual harassment and other acts of discrimination” complaint form are the words “Privileged and confidential.”
Patronis’ office didn’t reply to a request for comment.
While Patronis’ office redacted information in the harassment complaint about the state employee, including her sex, Cruz contends people were able to identify the worker.
In the complaint, the employee said Rubin took her to lunch on April 30 and brought her to his nearby downtown condo to see recent renovations. Inside, Rubin told the employee to remove her shoes so as not to track dust inside. Rubin also removed his
shoes before they viewed the condo.
The complaint said that after the lunch, the employee started to avoid Rubin and was moved to a different job after inquiring if there were other positions available, as the situation was “awkward” and “uncomfortable.”
Patronis, in announcing the suspension of Rubin, said there were “troubling allegations in a sexual harassment complaint filed by an OFR employee.”
Patronis, who had championed hiring Rubin for the job, has called for Rubin to resign. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has backed Patronis’ call.
Rubin has strongly denied the harassment allegation and refused to quit.
Rubin also requested that Moody investigate Patronis as part of a lawsuit filed last month by Rubin’s attorney, Michael Tein of Miami.
The lawsuit alleges Rubin, who was hired to the $166,000-a-year position by DeSantis and the Cabinet in late February, has been the victim of “pay to play — or else” politics.
The 33-page complaint filed in Miami-Dade County circuit court alleges conspiracy and defamation and was directed against Tallahassee lobbyist Paul Mitchell, considered a strong ally of Patronis.
The lawsuit claims Rubin’s father, a wealthy developer, repeatedly refused pressure to make a $1 million political donation for his son’s hiring.
Mitchell has described Rubin’s account of events as “largely fictional” and “selfserving.”