Latest news with #Gaddis
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Worker who leaked plans to build golf courses in Florida parks files whistleblower suit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former worker who leaked information about plans by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration to build golf courses and hotels in Florida state parks has filed a whistleblower lawsuit. James Gaddis alleges that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection retaliated against him for sharing details of the proposals, which caused bipartisan outrage and sparked protests. Ultimately the plans were scuttled. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment, saying the agency does not do so with pending litigation. Gaddis, who was a consultant in DEP's Office of Park Planning, says he was directed to draw up 'secret maps' to build golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts in nine parks. Park staffers were ordered not to talk to any colleagues about the proposals, which in Gaddis' view amounted to destroying 'globally significant' environments. The experience felt like 'mapping out a future crime scene,' according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Leon County. Gaddis copied documents onto a flash drive and shared it with an unnamed intermediary, the lawsuit says, and the next day the Tampa Bay Times wrote about the plans. Gaddis says he was called into a meeting by a supervisor and asked if he shared the documents, which he admitted to. He was put on administrative leave and later fired, and the suit says that amounted to disparate treatment and retaliation. The complaint seeks damages of at least $100,000. The Republican-dominated state Legislature has since passed a bill banning development in state parks, and DeSantis signed it into law. Gaddis started an online fundraiser to help cover expenses, with an initial goal of $10,000. As of June 11, it had brought in more than $258,000. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Toronto Star
2 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
Worker who leaked plans to build golf courses in Florida parks files whistleblower suit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former worker who leaked information about plans by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration to build golf courses and hotels in Florida state parks has filed a whistleblower lawsuit. James Gaddis alleges that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection retaliated against him for sharing details of the proposals, which caused bipartisan outrage and sparked protests. Ultimately the plans were scuttled. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment, saying the agency does not do so with pending litigation. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Gaddis, who was a consultant in DEP's Office of Park Planning, says he was directed to draw up 'secret maps' to build golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts in nine parks. Park staffers were ordered not to talk to any colleagues about the proposals, which in Gaddis' view amounted to destroying 'globally significant' environments. The experience felt like 'mapping out a future crime scene,' according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Leon County. Gaddis copied documents onto a flash drive and shared it with an unnamed intermediary, the lawsuit says, and the next day the Tampa Bay Times wrote about the plans. Gaddis says he was called into a meeting by a supervisor and asked if he shared the documents, which he admitted to. He was put on administrative leave and later fired, and the suit says that amounted to disparate treatment and retaliation. The complaint seeks damages of at least $100,000. The Republican-dominated state Legislature has since passed a bill banning development in state parks, and DeSantis signed it into law. Gaddis started an online fundraiser to help cover expenses, with an initial goal of $10,000. As of June 11, it had brought in more than $258,000. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Worker who leaked plans to build golf courses in Florida parks files whistleblower suit
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A former worker who leaked information about plans by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration to build golf courses and hotels in Florida state parks has filed a whistleblower lawsuit. James Gaddis alleges that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection retaliated against him for sharing details of the proposals, which caused bipartisan outrage and sparked protests. Ultimately the plans were scuttled. A spokesperson for the department declined to comment, saying the agency does not do so with pending litigation. Gaddis, who was a consultant in DEP's Office of Park Planning, says he was directed to draw up 'secret maps' to build golf courses, hotels and pickleball courts in nine parks. Park staffers were ordered not to talk to any colleagues about the proposals, which in Gaddis' view amounted to destroying 'globally significant' environments. The experience felt like 'mapping out a future crime scene,' according to the lawsuit, which was filed in Leon County. Gaddis copied documents onto a flash drive and shared it with an unnamed intermediary, the lawsuit says, and the next day the Tampa Bay Times wrote about the plans. Gaddis says he was called into a meeting by a supervisor and asked if he shared the documents, which he admitted to. He was put on administrative leave and later fired, and the suit says that amounted to disparate treatment and retaliation. The complaint seeks damages of at least $100,000. The Republican-dominated state Legislature has since passed a bill banning development in state parks, and DeSantis signed it into law. Gaddis started an online fundraiser to help cover expenses, with an initial goal of $10,000. As of June 11, it had brought in more than $258,000. ___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lawsuit: DeSantis administration retaliated after leaked development plans for state parks
A new lawsuit alleges that Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration last summer worked to keep secret a plan to build golf courses, pickleball courts and luxury hotels at nine state parks. The suit, filed in Leon County by whistleblower James Gaddis, includes details of how public protests sent the Florida Park Service's Office of Planning scrambling to rush approval of new rules to allow such development at all of the state's 175 parks. It says Gaddis was the victim of "retaliation" by DeSantis, former Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Shawn Hamilton and the department's human resources director, Jake Vick. He seeks damages of at least $100,000, among other things. Gaddis was a park planning consultant, fired last August after he leaked details of the Great Outdoors Initiative – a plan to build lodges, tennis courts, flying disc courses and other amenities at state parks. Public outrage over the proposal led the Legislature earlier this year to unanimously pass a new park protection law that DeSantis signed in May. In his complaint, Gaddis – represented by Tallahassee civil-rights attorney Marie Mattox – says he was wrongfully terminated after he wrote a letter exposing plans for the 'destruction of state parks throughout Florida.' He's protected under the state's whistleblower law, his suit says, because he "reported and disclosed violations of rules, regulations and laws, and/or malfeasance, misfeasance and/or gross misconduct to persons both inside and outside of his normal chain of command ...." A complaint in a lawsuit tells one side of a story. A DEP spokesperson said the state agency is unable to comment on pending litigation. Gaddis said he was tasked with creating 'secret maps' in August 2024 for development that he says would have destroyed 'globally significant' habitats. When given an assignment to transform 1,000 acres of scrubland in Jonathan Dickinson State Park into three golf courses, he alleges, the instructions included 'not talk to any colleagues about these plans.' Two weeks into the job, he 'felt as if he was mapping out a future crime scene,' according to the complaint. Gaddis admits he loaded maps and documents, including an explanatory memo, onto a flash drive. He passed it to an unnamed intermediary, who then gave the information to reporters. After the Tampa Bay Times broke news of the initiative, public protests swept the state and DeSantis pulled the idea from consideration. And in the face of those protests, Gaddis' suit describes a state agency in "a panic." He says Assistant Park Service Director Danielle Terrell on Aug. 14 told staff how DEP intended to get rules and plans for the Great Outdoors Initiative approved by the end of the month. The plan involved in a flurry of activity, including maps and drafts of proposed new rules to be released Aug. 26, required public hearings for the new rules to allow development on Aug. 27, and eight public hearings to be held starting Aug. 27. Staff was not to answer questions from an 'angry mob,' the complaint says, and to 'record feedback.' But the public hearings were cancelled Aug. 25 and DeSantis later dismissed the development plans as 'not ready for prime time.' Gaddis says Vick confronted him with the memo that accompanied the maps and documents that made public DEP's plans. In a recorded meeting, Gaddis admitted he wrote the memo, expressed no regrets and immediately went on administrative leave. The next day, Gaddis received a letter of termination that said he had 'intentionally released unauthorized and inaccurate information to the public.' He now says his firing was retaliation and prohibited by Florida law. The suit also seeks injunctive relief that includes Gaddis' reinstatement as a park planner, a court order mandating that DEP obey state employment laws, and an order for DEP to pay all of Gaddis' attorney fees and court costs. After his firing, Gaddis set up a GoFundMe with an initial fundraising goal of $10,000. As of June 11, he had raised nearly $258,000. His next professional goal is to make "high-quality maps of conservation lands within the State of Florida, which has given me so much to be thankful for," he wrote on his GoFundMe page. "Once I am further along with next professional steps, I will be ready to explore my options with respect to giving back and advocating for additional conservation of Florida's wild spaces, which is especially critical as our state's population continues to increase." James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@ and is on X as @CallTallahassee. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: DeSantis named in lawsuit over 'secret' plan to develop Florida parks
