In September 2021, Steve Carter and Miriam Coles successfully defended and won a jury verdict in Federal Court in favor of a Physician Assistant accused of sexual assault against female prisoners during a medical examination.
On March 16, 2021, Steve Carter was a guest lecturer at FSU College of Law for the Spring Semester Employment Law class taught by Professor Mary Ziegler.
In December 2020, Steve Carter and Miriam Coles won a final summary judgment in favor of the Department of Corrections in a Section 1983 claim alleging the wrongful death of an inmate caused by cruel and unusual conditions of confinement.
In June 2019, Steve Carter was recertified as a Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer by the Florida Bar. Certification is the Florida Bar's highest level of evaluation of the competency and experience a lawyer in Florida can receive. Only 7 % of the eligible Florida Bar members achieve this level of recognition. Mr. Carter has been board certified as a civil trial lawyer since June 1, 1999.
Attorneys Miriam Coles and Steve Carter recently obtained final summary judgment on all claims against the Defendant, City of Tallahassee, in a disability discrimination case. Plaintiff claimed that the City failed to reasonably accommodate her disability, treated her differently than similarly situated employees because of her disability and retaliated against her, effectively causing her constructive discharge. The Northern District found that her requests to telecommute were not reasonable; therefore, she could not perform the essential functions of her position. On appeal, the Eleventh Circuit upheld the entry of summary judgment in favor of the Defendant.
Laura Beth Faragasso and Dawn McMahon recently obtained summary judgment for defendant, the Florida Department of Children and Families, in a federal Equal Pay Act case. Two current, female ARNP employees of Florida State Hospital challenged a disparity between their rate of compensation and that of a male ARNP co-worker who had left the employment of the hospital to work with another agency and then returned to FSH at a time of critical need for prescribing medical providers. The male co-worker had demanded and received a 10% salary increase with each move, resulting in a significant pay disparity between the nurse practioners, despite all ARNPs performing the same essential job functions. When the female ARNPs demanded that their salary be increased to the same level as their male counter-part and the hospital declined, they sued. The district court agreed with the defense argument that factors such as salary compression for long-term state employees; insufficient personnel budget appropriations by the legislature; critical need at the time of the male co-worker’s return to the hospital; and the co-worker’s willingness to seek alternative employment were all gender neutral justifications for the salary differential and thus there was no Equal Pay Act violation. Patricia N. Kalu and Susan Linder-Wyatt v. State of Florida, Department of Children & Families, Case No. 4:15cv388-RH/CAS, U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Dawn McMahon and Laura Beth Faragasso recently defended a four-count employment discrimination/ promotional and retaliation case against the Florida Department of Children and Families in federal court, after winning two of the original six counts on summary judgment. At the conclusion of the three day trial, the jury returned a defense verdict on three of the four remaining claims and awarded the plaintiff significantly less than had been offered in pre-trial negotiations. Phyllis Garrett v. State of Florida, Department of Children and Families, Northern District of Florida Case No. 4:13-cv-00568-RH-CAS.
Attorneys Miriam Coles and Dawn McMahon recently obtained final summary judgment on all claims in favor of Defendant, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations (DBPR), in a federal disability discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation case. The plaintiff claimed that the Defendant failed to reasonably accommodate his disability for over 8 months and then when it did grant his request to work from home, it unreasonably required the submission of redundant and burdensome daily activity reports, which he refused to complete. The District Court found that, “his refusal of the direct instruction to prepare daily activity reports was about as insubordinate as an employee could be,” and thus Plaintiff’s termination for refusing to complete the reports as directed was not discriminatory. This case is currently on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit.
Attorneys Laura Beth Faragasso and Miriam Coles recently obtained a favorable result for their client, Florida A&M University, on appeal to the Florida First District Court of Appeals. After briefing and oral argument, the First District upheld the entry of summary judgment in favor of the University in a breach of contract and abuse of process claim brought by a former student against the University relating to disciplinary action taken against her, which significantly delayed her ability to graduate. The First District affirmed the trial court’s ruling that the student’s failure to appeal the final order of discipline via petition for writ of certiorari to the circuit court amounted to a failure to exhaust administrative remedies, and thus barred her separate lawsuit for money damages.
Dawn McMahon and Laura Beth Faragasso recently defended an FMLA/nursing mother accommodation and retaliation case against the Florida Department of Corrections after winning the plaintiff’s related termination claim on summary judgment. The three day trial resulted in a hung jury. The case ultimately resolved for nuisance value shortly before the scheduled re-trial in May 2015. Sheila Kerce v. Florida Department of Corrections, Case No. 4:13-cv-00557-MW-CAS, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division.