Miami whistleblower lawsuit vs. Joe Carollo goes to mediation, June trial

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It’s been almost three years since Steven Miro sued the city of Miami for wrongful termination after Commissioner Joe Carollo fired him.

The former aide says it was retaliation when he reported that the commissioner used his office and public dollars to campaign for Alex Diaz de la Portilla when the latter was running for county commission. A campaign event at a Little Havana and Nutrition Center location became known as PaellaGate for the Spanish rice served to senior voters by their commissioner and his friend, the candidate.

Carollo says Miro, who was hired from his successful 2017 campaign, was fired for cause — namely, creating a gender-based hostility in the workplace. The city has said Miro — a socially awkward, creepy guy with a lazy eye and a penchant for saying inappropriate things that only he thinks are funny — was already under investigation for sexual harassment and also for hacking into his boss’s computer to give himself a raise.

Next month, the case heads for court-ordered mediation, which is expected to go nowhere. Even the great Israel Reyes, a former judge and assistant state attorney — who, by the way, worked in the racketeering/organized crime unit — can’t bring these two sides together.

Read related: Joe Carollo fires staffer who reported abuse of office to the State Attorney

“Not sure yet what a successful mediation would look like,” City Attorney Victoria Mendez told Ladra in an email. Matthew Sarelson, Miro’s attorney, could not be reached for comment.

Documents with the clerk’s office show a jury trial is already set for June. And each side has already filed their witness lists in court.

Miro’s attorney is calling on commissioners Carollo, Diaz de la Portilla and Ken Russell; former City Manager Emilio Gonzalez; Miami’s Human Resources Director Angela Roberts; Betty Ruano of the Little Havana Activities and Nutrition Center; Robert Moody, a forensic computer consultant who was hired by the city; Richard Blom, who was once Carollo’s chief of staff — before they had a huge falling out — who actually fired Miro; and Tanjha Quintana, a one-time Carollo aide arrested for drunk driving after she struck a boat towed by a car.

The city has those witnesses, plus a few more, including five current or former staffers of Carollo’s — Anthony Barcena, Gisella Maestre, Mara Roman, Jose Suarez and Lisette Pallais — and Rebeca Wakefield, Russell’s former chief of staff who is now chief of staff for Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado. Wakefield is a “rebuttal” witness, along with Lisette Reeve and James Jackson, a special aide to Russell.

Read related: Miami city attorneys conspired, created ‘cheat sheet’ to stop Joe Carollo recall

Quintana’s deposition is already part of the public record. She said that she made up the sexual harassment accusations against Miro at the behest of her boss, Commissioner Carollo. He told her to write up the complaint after he had fired Miro. He even read the first draft and told her to ratch it up, according to her testimony.

Quintana admitted he was a little creepy — a word used often to describe Miro — but said he never sexually harassed her.

“It was Joe Carollo who wanted you to say he was sexually harassing you, right,” Sarelson asked. “Yes,” Quintana replied.

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She also said that she met with the commissioner and his wife Marjorie at the Carollo home the night before a city hearing on Miro’s employment, summoned there by her boss, to double down on his directions.

“He basically coached me into what I was supposed to say,” Quintana said.

“Was he fairly aggressive in his position as to what it was he wanted you to say,” Sarelson asked. “Yes,” Quintana answered. Was he intimidating? Yes, she said. She used the word “manipulating” to describe her statement.

  Joe Carollo, Steven Miro