Florida Agrees to $40K Settlement Over DeSantis’ Removal of Orange-Osceola State Attorney

ORLANDO, Fla. – Nearly two years after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell, state officials have agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit filed by one of Worrell’s former employees, records obtained by News 6 show.

Keisha Mulfort, who served as Worrell’s chief of staff and public information officer, was fired from the state attorney’s office on Aug. 9, 2023, the same day DeSantis suspended Worrell for what the governor described as incompetence and neglect of duty.

Mulfort was at home on maternity leave when she was terminated by Andrew Bain, who DeSantis appointed as state attorney to replace Worrell, according to a federal civil lawsuit filed by Mulfort last year.

Prior to learning she had been fired, Mulfort claimed that state attorney’s office employees and armed sheriff’s deputies showed up at her home on Aug. 10 to retrieve social media passwords and repossess state property.

“Y’all should have made arrangements. That would have been the respectful thing to do. I am here with my 10-week-old daughter,” Mulfort can be heard saying on a cell phone video recorded during the encounter.

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“I was a first-time mom — recovering from childbirth, navigating postpartum complications, nursing my newborn daughter, and adjusting to life as a new mom,” Mulfort said in a statement to News 6. “I had just brought life into this world, and in one of the most sacred and vulnerable times of my life, I was terminated — without warning, while on approved maternity leave, without basic human decency.”

“By repeatedly directing Plaintiff to perform work-related activities and then terminating Plaintiff’s employment while she was on leave under the [Family and Medical Leave Act], Defendant interfered with Plaintiff’s FMLA rights,” Mulfort alleged in her lawsuit.

The Office of Florida’s Attorney General, which represented the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office in the litigation, denied Mulfort’s allegations and unsuccessfully sought to get the lawsuit dismissed.

Earlier this year, Mulford agreed to withdraw her FMLA claims and drop Bain as a defendant while continuing to pursue other civil rights claims against the state attorney’s office, court records show.

Following mediation last month, records show Mulfort and representatives of Florida’s Office of Attorney General agreed to settle the lawsuit for $40,000.

About $21,500 of the settlement is designated as back pay and compensatory damages for Mulfort, the agreement states, with the balance intended to cover Mulfort’s attorney fees.

Under the settlement agreement, the state “denies any wrongdoing or unlawful acts” while Mulfort acknowledged that she “has not been denied leave under the Family Medical Leave Act.”

“This settlement doesn’t fix what they did to me or my family. It doesn’t undo the trauma or restore what was stolen from me,” Mulfort told News 6. “It does, however, close the door on a chapter built on cruelty and cowardice. It allows me to move forward without carrying the weight of their actions. And it frees me to release people who were never worthy of my trust, my loyalty, or my forgiveness.”

Mulfort, who now works in the private sector, did not return to the state attorney’s office after Worrell won re-election last fall.

“I’ve worked for the State of Florida for over 10 years,” said Mulfort. “I went above and beyond daily in that office — to the point I was working on the day my child was born. I served with integrity, diligence, and with a deep commitment to this community. And when I needed even a fraction of that care in return, I was met with this despicable act.”

Representatives from the governor’s office did not immediately comment on the settlement. A spokesperson for the Orange-Osceola state attorney’s office declined to comment.

“Our office represented the Ninth Circuit State Attorney’s Office in an employment action,” said a spokesperson for Florida’s Attorney General. “The Office of the Attorney General routinely handles such matters for state agencies and constitutional officers. The settlement that was reached at mediation speaks for itself.”