Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and top aides have been sued by the former chief of staff for the state Department of Law Enforcement, who said the agency sacked him in retribution for blowing the whistle on refusing to carry out illicit orders.
While Shane Desguin retired in November, he characterized his departure as a "wrongful termination", ABC News reported.
The suit, filed in Tallahassee Circuit Court, named DeSantis and the law enforcement agency. It said that despite Desguin's "stellar work performance during his employment" he was "subjected to disparate treatment, different terms and conditions of employment, and held to a different standard because he reported Defendants’ malfeasance, gross misconduct and unlawful employment activities and was subject to retaliation thereafter."
Both Desguin and his former deputy Patricia Carpenter were, according to the lawsuit, investigated internally based on trumped-up workplace violations that the lawsuit suggested amounted to a "thinly veiled attempt at character assassination."
They are the key players in a separate lawsuit filed by The Washington Post, requesting records related to DeSantis' travel when he began a primary run for the Republican nomination for president.
He bowed out earlier this year.
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Desguin is seeking unspecified damages.
Carpenter filed for whistleblower protection but was denied by the inspector general.
“In my view, and based on ... my experience in more than 30 years as a certified law enforcement officer, disclosure of those public records to the Post, or anyone else, would not have threatened the safety of the Governor,” Desguin told The Post. “Instead, disclosure of those records, in my view, would allow the public to understand how their tax dollars are used in the provision of important public services.
Before he was forced out from his post, Desguin, who had worked at the law enforcement agency since 2005, detailed in the papers that he received a formal note from the agency that read: “Retired. Not involving misconduct."
The lawsuit accused DeSantis and a senior official in the agency of urging him to procure “photographs, biometric data, and any other pertinent information by engaging with migrants at the airport.”
But Desguin protested that abiding by that order would have been illegal to do without probable cause.
Desguin also alleged that DeSantis had an aide push him to arrest “neo-Nazi” demonstrators in Orlando; but again he called such conduct lacking probable cause given it would be illegal to arrest anyone solely for expressing their views.
An agency spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to the lawsuit and a DeSantis spokesman refused to comment when ABC News reached out.
