Ex-CEO of domestic violence group aims to derail lawsuits that could cost her millions
Accusing the state of “speculation and ambiguity,” the embattled former chief of a domestic-violence organization is asking a judge to dismiss twin lawsuits seeking the repayment of millions of dollars in compensation.
Tiffany Carr oversaw the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence for nearly two decades, growing the state- and federal-backed agency into a $46 million-a-year enterprise.
Carr resigned as CEO of the nonprofit organization in October amid probes by the governor’s office and the Florida House into the coalition’s finances and reports that Carr received $7.5 million in compensation over a three-year period.
On March 4, the Florida Department of Children and Families and Attorney General Ashley Moody filed separate lawsuits against Carr and the coalition, each seeking an unspecified amount of reimbursement.
In documents filed Friday, Carr’s attorney, Christopher Kise, asked Leon County Circuit Judge Ronald Flury to dismiss the lawsuits, saying the state failed to show that she had done anything wrong.
“While DCF now cries ‘fraud’ and ‘deception,’ there can be no dispute DCF now and always has been aware Ms. Carr was at all times employed pursuant to a valid contract, written in plain English, and the terms of that contract and her compensation were determined and established not by Ms. Carr, but by an independent committee of the coalition’s unpaid board of directors,” Kise wrote.
Carr’s lawyer also blasted the Florida House Public Integrity and Ethics Committee, which issued subpoenas to the coalition’s board members and grilled them during the legislative session that ended in March.
“The legislative committee hearings, devoid of even the pretense of due process and devolving at times into circus like theatrics, featured a series of examinations, with each legislator determined to create an ‘a-ha’ moment for inclusion in the nightly-news soundbite reel,” Kise, a former state solicitor general, wrote.
Amid the litigation and investigations, Flury appointed a receiver to take over the coalition and its foundation, a separate nonprofit organization that raised private money to support the domestic-violence agency. Carr is the sole member of the foundation, after its other officers resigned.
DCF’s contract
The Department of Children and Families for more than a decade had a sole-source contract, enshrined in state law, that made the coalition the pass-through for millions of dollars meant for the state’s 42 domestic-violence shelters, which provide services to domestic-violence victims.
After revelations about Carr’s compensation — from her $750,000-a-year salary to more than $4.5 million in paid time off, which she cashed out before stepping down from the organization in October — lawmakers this year stripped from state law the coalition’s relationship with DCF.
The state agency also canceled its contract with the coalition and filed a separate lawsuit accusing Carr and the nonprofit of breach of contract. In addition, the revelations sparked an investigation by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inspector general.
“Simply put, DCF’s complaint is a shameless face-saving measure deployed by a government agency caught in the crosshairs of negative press coverage, hostile legislative hearings, and inspector general inquiries ordered by the governor,” Kise wrote in the motion to dismiss the lawsuit by DCF.
Moody’s lawsuit accuses Carr and the coalition of using paid time off “to conceal the excessive and extravagant amounts of compensation paid or promised” to the coalition’s officers, “in particular to Ms. Carr.” The lawsuit, which also alleges the coalition and Carr tried to cover up her compensation, asks the court to order Carr to repay the allegedly exorbitant executive compensation.
Foundation’s assets
The effort to dismiss the lawsuits comes after Kise and lawyers for the state wrangled over whether Flury should name a receiver to take over the foundation. Carr and the foundation — which has about $1.5 million in assets — eventually agreed to turn over $500,000 and dropped an attempt to block a receiver, whom Flury appointed on May 22.
But the resolution of the receiver did nothing to quell Kise’s contempt for the litigation against Carr, which he said exists “in an alternate reality.”
The motions filed on Friday called the legal maneuvers a “shameless face-saving measure” launched amid public scrutiny of the coalition’s finances.
“DCF’s allegations are nothing more than ‘naked legal conclusions,’ insufficient to survive a motion to dismiss,” Kise argued.
The coalition’s executive committee approved Carr’s compensation and allowed her to cash in her paid time off, he wrote, adding “there is simply no allegation that Ms. Carr did anything to deceive, incentivize or coerce the board into determining, approving, or paying her compensation.”
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 6:05 PM.