A high-ranking Vero Beach police officer has filed a “whistleblower” lawsuit against the city, claiming he was targeted for retaliation after he accused the department’s chief earlier this year of creating a hostile work environment.
Lieutenant Daniel Cook filed the suit in Circuit Court in November, alleging Police Chief David Currey gave him the first “substandard” annual job-performance review in his 35 years with the department and later suspended him because of the allegations.
The 24-page filing – which contains eight exhibits, including text messages, memos, administrative action forms and an email – states that Currey’s “antagonism” toward Cook stemmed from an “unfounded belief” that the lieutenant was “revealing internal information” about adverse working conditions to people outside the department.
In one text message and follow-up email sent to City Manager Monte Falls in March, Cook wrote that Currey was trying to connect him to the failed efforts of John’s Island philanthropist Tom Corr and Gorilla Ammunition co-founder Lanse Padgett to oust the chief early last year.
Corr and Padgett attempted to make the case that Currey was unfit to lead the department, contending his administration closes cases that demand further investigation, deflects and dodges any questioning of its performance and practices, and has created an intolerant work environment in which employees are afraid to speak openly about agency matters.
Cook denied any such link to Currey’s high-profile critics in a March 10 text message, writing: “Let me state this again, this was not my fight and I did nothing to start this with Mr. Corr or Padgett.”
To address Cook’s complaint, Falls requested that the city’s human resources director, Gabrielle Manus, launch an investigation. After conducting what she described as a “comprehensive review of the department” and interviewing 25 percent of the agency’s employees, she found the claims to be without merit.
Manus wrote in an April 16 memo to Falls, in fact, that she “did not find any evidence” of inappropriate behavior by the chief or a hostile work environment.
“However, several individuals did mention behavior exhibited by one individual,” Manus continued. “I did not find that any indication that this behavior rose to the level of a hostile work environment. The behavior is more along the lines of inappropriate workplace behavior.
“Several individuals expressed concern that this individual appeared to like to cause turmoil and discord among their fellow officers,” she added. “It was also expressed that the same individual rants and tries to cause problems and disruptions in the office.
“The overwhelming consensus was that most people try to avoid this individual because of the disruptive behaviors.”
Manus did not identify the “individual” in her memo, which also detailed her investigation into other allegations against Currey: employees’ fear of retaliation and interaction with the chief; favoritism and targeting; lack of cooperation with other law enforcement agencies; and morale of the department.
In his lawsuit, Cook challenged both the credibility of Manus’ investigation and her conclusions, accusing her of basing her findings on interviews with “members of rank” who were the “direct perpetrators of the antagonistic work environment” to which he was subjected.
He also claimed Manus “failed to include in her report statements provided to her by individuals who echoed” his allegations of a hostile work environment.
Neither Falls nor Currey would comment on the merits of Cook’s allegations, but Mayor John Cotugno said the city will defend itself in court, relying on legal counsel provided through its membership in the Florida League of Cities.
“The cost to us will be minimal, if anything,” Cotugno said, adding that League attorneys are experts in litigating whistleblower and hostile work environment cases.
Last month, the city’s attorney, Douglas T. Noah of the Orlando-based Dean, Ringers, Morgan & Lawton law firm, filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming the allegations contained within Cook’s complaint and the accompanying exhibits were “legally insufficient” to establish a case under Florida’s Public Employee Whistleblower Act.
Circuit Judge Cynthia Cox dismissed the city’s motion on Dec. 31.
According to the suit, Cook has had an “illustrious career, solving more homicides and violent crimes that any other current employee” at the city’s police department, and his detective work has been recognized on reality-based television shows, such as “48 Hours” and “Court TV.”
The suit states that he is seeking damages in excess of $75,000, including lost wages and benefits; compensatory damages for mental anguish, loss of reputation, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life; attorney’s fees and costs; and any other relief deemed just and proper.
Florida’s whistleblower law prohibits agencies from taking retaliatory actions against employees who report violations – or suspected violations – of the law, or who disclose information to appropriate government agencies alleging improper use of “governmental office, gross waste of funds, or any other abuse or gross neglect of duties on the part of an agency, public officer or employee.”
Cook’s lawsuit alleges that he has been “singled out” for retaliation by Currey for taking his hostile-work-environment complaints to Falls, repeating them to Manus during her investigation and, subsequently, copying City Council members on a May 21 email he sent to Manus regarding the matter.
The suit identifies three occasions on which Cook has been the recipient of disciplinary action for violating the department’s General Orders this year:
- In May, he received verbal counseling for failing to report an officer for “neglecting his duties” while working a Community Partnership Unit detail in February.
- In June, he received a written reprimand for saying “on at least two occasions” that Deputy Chief Matt Monaco was lying while presenting him with his annual performance evaluation.
- Also in June, he was suspended for going outside the department’s chain of command when he copied council members on the aforementioned email.
Cook did catch the department violating its own General Order during his annual performance review in June, when he was given “improvement needed” grades in three categories – interaction with others, attitude and dependability.
In a June 6 memo, Monaco acknowledged Cook’s assertion that the department failed to provide him with “prior written notification of substandard performance” in his interactions with others and attitude before including it in his formal evaluation, as required by General Orders.
The error, however, was corrected.
Monaco removed those two items from Cook’s evaluation, but he retained the substandard-performance grade for dependability. At the same time, the deputy chief advised the lieutenant that the memo would serve as written notification of substandard performance in the interactions and attitude categories.
The lawsuit states that Cook sent his email to Manus and the council members because the department did not immediately rectify his “inappropriate annual review.”
Cook is being represented by West Palm Beach-based attorney Isidro Garcia.
Asked if he was aware of hostile working conditions at the police department, Cotugno replied, “There have been claims, but they’ve never been verified.”
