Miami Herald by Lawrence Mower
July 2, 2019
TALLAHASSEE
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis should be investigated for breaking state law after he posted a woman’s sexual harassment complaint within hours of it being filed, according to a request by the woman’s lawyer.
Attorney Tiffany Cruz is representing a woman who lodged a complaint against the state’s banking regulator, Ronald Rubin, on May 10. Patronis, in an apparent attempt to pressure Rubin to resign, issued a news release announcing Rubin’s suspension that included a link to the woman’s redacted complaint.
Florida law seems clear: Employee complaints are “confidential and exempt” until they’ve been investigated. That warning was at the very top of the woman’s complaint form that Patronis released.
It’s a first-degree misdemeanor to knowingly and willingly violate the confidentiality statute.