Sexual Harassment Accusations Filed Against Tampa City Councilman

TAMPA, FL — Sexual harassment accusations made against the chairman of the Tampa City Council appear to be credible, city officials said Monday.

The city confirmed that an employee filed a complaint with Tampa’s Human Resources Department in August about City Council Chairman Orlando Gudes for “pervasive abuse and sexual harassment."

“The alleged sexual harassment did not include sexual advances, but rather frequent offensive conduct and abuse,” said the city in a statement.

The city hired Trenam Law, an independent, outside law firm, in September to investigate the “19 specific allegations" that occurred between May 2019 and September 2020.

Gudes has been accused of making crude sexual statements, sexual gestures and derogatory comments about multiple women. Gudes, who is Black, was also accused of calling an employee “Celie," the name of the main character in the book and film, “The Color Purple.”

The city said Trenam Law interviewed 20 witnesses and concluded “the employee appeared to be credible and found several of the allegations corroborated by witnesses."

"It is my conclusion that the claimant has provided evidence demonstrating that she suffered harassment based on her sex," said Thomas Gonzalez, an attorney at Gray Robinson, outside counsel to the city's human resources department, which reviewed Trenam Law's findings.

“Trenam concluded that 18 of the 19 allegations appeared more likely than not to have occurred,” said the city.

Gudes denied the sexual harassment allegations and apologized for anything he said that caused his former legislative aide, to feel uncomfortable. Gonzalez said Gudes and the employee were longtime friends before she began working for Gudes.

He issued a statement Monday following the announcement.

“While I disagree with the entirety of the findings in the report regarding my former legislative aide, I do accept responsibility for comments that I made that, while not sexual harassment, were not appropriate for the workplace," Gudes said. "I made the mistake of hiring a friend and not establishing new boundaries for the relationship because the dynamic had changed. I take full responsibility for not recognizing this change. I considered her a long-time family friend and I regularly socialized with her, her boyfriend and several other individuals, both before and during her employment. In addition, she and I worked closely as she was my legislative aide since my election. These circumstances led me to make jokes and comments that were not appropriate for the workplace but would not be uncommon among old friends, which is what I considered us to be at the time. I sincerely apologize to my former legislative aide for my words that caused her discomfort."

He went on to say that not all the accusations were true.

"Many of the accusations are false and there are certain remarks that I have been accused of making that I have denied and must continue to categorically deny. However, I admit that some of the statements are true, though, unfortunately, taken out of context," Gudes said. "Additionally, I believe there are ways I can improve on effectively communicating with and managing others, and to assist me with this, I have decided to engage the services of an executive coach, Gena Cox, PhD, at my own expense. It is my hope that through this process I can further develop my own leadership skills and workplace sensitivity so that I can be at my best to better serve my constituents and this city. Again, I accept responsibility for my actions and apologize for the comments. I intend to learn from this experience, I intend to be a better person, and I intend to be a better councilman and role model in my community.”

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor issued a statement saying she would fire Gudes if he were a city employee.

“Since Orlando Gudes is an elected official, I have no authority over him. However, if he were a city employee, he would be fired over these credible and corroborated sexual harassment revelations,” Castor said. “I know from many years in law enforcement that it takes a great deal of courage for a victim to make harassment and hostile work environment allegations against any supervisor, let alone one as powerful as a city council chairman.”

The city said the employee can file a complaint with the state or a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or Florida Commission on Human Relations.

The revelation of sexual harassment accusations against Gudes comes just weeks after Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder resigned from the city council as part of a settlement agreement involving a public records lawsuit.

The lawsuit centered around a public records request and eventually a lawsuit from Tampa business consultant Stephen Michelini that found Dingfelder was using personal communication platforms to conduct city business including discussions about development issues.

Dingfelder represented himself when Tampa City Attorney Gina Grimes declined. After fighting the case for six months using his own financial resources, Dingfelder accepted a settlement that included his resignation from the council, a letter of apology and his agreement not to discuss the case. He announced his resignation March 15.

His resignation widened an existing rift between the city council and the mayor.

Councilman Bill Carlson accused Castor's administration of leaking misleading stories about councilmen when they challenged the mayor on issues.

"When the administration works to sabotage a sitting city council member, or several city council members, if they leak information that causes a city council member to have to resign, that is despicable," Carlson said.