Lawyer for former domestic violence group CEO denies corruption
Says ‘entire debate has spun out of control’
TALLAHASSEE — Amid investigations, litigation and public scrutiny over allegedly exorbitant executive compensation at the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Tiffany Carr, the woman at the center of the maelstrom, has remained almost silent.
But a lawyer who represents Carr, the former CEO of the nonprofit organization, provided a glimpse in a court filing into her defense against accusations that she misspent public funds meant for the state’s domestic-violence centers.
“The entire debate has spun out of control, with a media frenzy fueling speculation, outrage, a ‘rush to judgment’ and a ‘mob rule’ mentality,” wrote attorney Chris Kise, who represents the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence Foundation and Carr, who is the foundation’s principal officer.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and House and Senate leaders in recent weeks have vilified Carr for orchestrating $7.5 million in compensation over three years, which included more than $4 million in paid time off. Inquiries into the nonprofit’s finances have also targeted the coalition’s executive staff and board of directors, who each year signed off on her salary and benefits.
“In 30 years of practice, I have never seen any issue or any series of issues spiral out of control so far and so fast, without anyone really considering all the substantive evidence,” Kise told The News Service of Florida in a telephone interview this week.
The Department of Children and Families and the federal government have for years steered money to the coalition to manage Florida’s 42 domestic-violence centers, which provide victims with an array of services. The coalition received $42 million from DCF for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, but the agency sued Carr, the coalition and its board members this year and canceled a contract with the nonprofit organization.
Moody filed a separate lawsuit against Carr, the coalition and the foundation on March 4, asking a judge to freeze the assets of the coalition and the foundation and to assign a receiver “to take control and custody” of both organizations. The foundation is a nonprofit that raises money from private donors to support the coalition.
During a hearing last week, Leon County Circuit Judge Ronald Flury agreed to appoint a receiver to oversee the coalition, but the fate of the foundation remains up in the air.
In a court filing arguing against such action, Kise called “the entire proceeding … an effort to short circuit the normal adjudicative process for ostensibly political purposes.”
Judicial proceedings are intended to “separate hyperbole from fact, evaluate the serious allegations and issues in an impartial forum, and render a decision based not on public sentiment, but on the record facts before the court,” Kise, a former state solicitor general, argued.
The state’s motion contains “inflammatory language and innuendo” and refers to newspaper articles and a complaint filed by