Naturally, two of the four "Anonymice" commenters on The St. Augustine Record's website were from loquacious louche City Commissioner NANCY SIKES-KLINE and her entourage, angry that their tempest in a thimble lawsuit did not result in embarrassment (and they say so, in haec verba, ipse dixit).
Everything NANCY SIKES-KLINE writes as "lifeisgood" (subject of a Florida Ethics Commission complaint) is revealing of an angry wannabee Mayor who won't run for Mayor of St. Augustine. As in the case of Commissioner SIKES-KLINE soliciting the UF "Opinion Paper" in support of DAVID BARTON CORNEAL, NANCY SIKES-KLINE's "sins have found her out."
Seraphin settles lawsuit with city
Posted: November 18, 2015 - 11:29pm | Updated: November 19, 2015 - 5:27pm
Read complaint.
By SHELDON GARDNER
sheldon.gardner@staugustine.com
Charlie Seraphin, the former marketing strategist for St. Augustine’s 450th anniversary commemoration, has reached an agreement in a lawsuit against the city and its mayor and city manager.
The agreement is for $40,000 to be paid by the city’s insurance company, according to Seraphin, whose attorney filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Jacksonville in February. The amount doesn’t fully cover Seraphin’s legal costs, he said, adding that the point of the lawsuit was not to make money but to uncover truth.
“It’s not going to end up in my pocket,” he said.
As part of the agreement, Seraphin will not continue the suit or file another one. He signed a letter of agreement but the final language of the settlement is still being drafted, according to Seraphin.
A mediation conference in the case was scheduled for early November, according to court documents. A judge ordered the case dismissed because of the settlement, but any party has 60 days “on good cause shown” to reopen the case, according to the court order.
Seraphin’s lawsuit claimed his contract was terminated after he spoke with and sent an email to then-mayoral candidate Nancy Shaver. Seraphin raised questions and “suggested to her that the vagueness in her resume raised credibility issues,” according to the lawsuit complaint.
He said it isn’t very clear from available information what her professional credentials were to seek public office.
“I’m not saying that she doesn’t have legitimate qualifications,” he said.
Seraphin’s suit claimed that the 2014 exchange angered Shaver and that she “schemed with multiple people ... and successfully had Seraphin’s employment with the city terminated, which tortuously interfered with Seraphin’s employment and/or his contract for professional services.” The suit was against Shaver, City Manager John Regan and the city itself.
Shaver’s response filed in court said she did nothing to influence Seraphin’s termination and never sought his dismissal. Though her response said she did not criticize Seraphin, her speech would have been protected had she chosen to, according to her defense.
Shaver indicated Wednesday that she was glad to have the matter settled.
“Obviously, things like this are a real distraction to the business of public service and government, and I’m delighted to ... no longer have to consider that as a distraction,” she said. “We’re here to serve the city, and these kinds of things, they get in the way of that.”
Regan said in 2014 that Seraphin was terminated for interfering in the political process.
“The civil service side of the municipal government is apolitical,” Regan told The Record.
Regan declined to comment on Wednesday.
The defense claimed Seraphin was terminated for reasons other than protected speech, including that he failed to raise “meaningful funding” for the event and used city equipment to get involved in the political process.
Seraphin said that he is not mad at Shaver or Regan but is disappointed over allegations that he interfered in the political process.
Seraphin said Wednesday he learned that if he won the suit, he would be winning against the city, via the city’s insurance company. He said he loves the city, its people and employees and never had a fight with the city.
He said he “didn’t want to be that person ... who was taking money from taxpayers through a lawsuit.”
Seraphin said he apologizes to anyone who was offended by anything he did.
“I didn’t mean to waste their time or their energy, and I certainly didn’t want to take their money,” he said.
Comments (4)
Firstcoaster 11/19/15 - 11:19 am 42Never about the Money
Of course, civil suits are rarely about the money. //roll eyes//
sha1zamiz 11/19/15 - 11:41 am 14Seraphin
Hate to see the city cave-in on this. Implying Nancy was a corporate "shill" using city communications on city time to influence the political climate would seem to justify the basis for termination.
Just Asking Y 11/19/15 - 04:16 pm 61Maybe the reason
Maybe the reason the city, which includes Nancy, caved-in was to prevent further scrutiny.
lifeisgood a/k/a NANCY SIKES-KLINE 11/19/15 - 07:00 pm 31exactly....
I wish people would go and read the lawsuit....it does not paint a pretty picture of the city's leadership. I can definitely see where the city would want to settle this and settle it fast. I wish the city hadn't caved so that Mr. Regan would have to fully explain to the public why he only a few short weeks before terminating Mr. Seraphin, had written him a glowing review AND renewed his yearly contract. The city, especially Mr. Regan, should consider himself very lucky. He dodged a bullet.
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