Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed By Tampa Councilman Gudes' Former Aide

TAMPA, FL — The former senior legislative aide to Tampa City Councilman Orlando Gudes has filed a lawsuit accusing him of "egregious acts of sexual harassment and mental abuse" directed toward her, her underage daughter and college-age interns who worked in Gudes' office.

Tampa attorney Ethan Loeb filed the lawsuit Monday in Hillsborough County Circuit Court on behalf of the aide seeking damages of $30,000 for mental anguish Gudes is accused of causing her for crude sexual statements, sexual gestures and derogatory comments.

The civil suit comes after the aide filed a complaint with the city's human resources department in August, accusing Gudes of "pervasive abuse and sexual harassment" and "frequent offensive conduct and abuse, according to the city.

To avoid any perception of bias, the city hired Trenam Law, an independent outside law firm, in September to investigate the "19 specific allegations" by the aide that occurred between May 2019 and September 2020.

In a report issued in March, Trenam Law told the city that it interviewed 20 witnesses and concluded that "18 of the 19 alleglations appeared more likely than not to have occurred."

The law firm said "the employee appeared to be credible and found several of the allegations corroborated by witnesses."

In response, at a city council meeting on March 30, Gudes announced he was stepping down as chairman of the city council but said he will not tender his resignation, despite calls from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor and Black community activists to do so.

"In light of the last four days, which I can't talk about because I have retained counsel, everybody has their day to be vindicated, and I'm waiting for that day to happen. But, in light of making sure we move forward and making sure this council is steadfast, a leader can't be in turmoil and try to lead," Gudes said, denying the allegations against him.

He said he 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," he said. "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."

Loeb does not name the aide or her teenage daughter in the lawsuit to protect their identities. He said this "is necessary because Mr. Gudes has repeatedly intimidated" the aide to prevent her from making her accusations public.

The aide, a single mother of two, was hired by Gudes shortly after he began serving his first term as councilman for District 5 on May 1, 2019.

In the suit, Loeb said, although Gudes was elected to represent District 5, he doesn't actually own a home in or live in District 5. The attorney said Gudes' home is located in District 7, which is a violation of the residency requirements in the city charter.

From the start of her employment, the aide said Gudes demanded she work long into the night and on weekends, forcing her to bring her daughter to work with her, so the teen would have supervision, according to the lawsuit.

At the same time, she told the city and her attorney that Gudes was often absent without explanation, leaving the bulk of his workload for his staff to complete.

When constituents asked about his whereabouts, the aide said Gudes told her to lie.

At times, she said he refused to meet with constituents about community concerns. In one case, the aide said a woman pastor asked to meet with him and the aide said Gudes told her, using obscene language, that he doesn't have to listen to the pastor because she's not granting him sexual favors.

Additionally, the aide said Gudes demanded she commit ethical breaches, including communicating with other elected officials on his behalf in violation of the Florida Government in the Sunshine Act and telling her to solicit contributions from local businesses and attorneys to charitable organizations to which Gudes was connected.

She also said there were instances when Gudes, who is Black, used antisemitic terms in reference to contractors for the city, according to the lawsuit.

When the aide told him his comments were inappropriate, discriminatory and hostile, she said he accused her of being "too sensitive," even using that term to describe her in one of her employee reviews.

Within weeks after she went to work for Gudes, the aide said he began calling her “Celie,” referring to the character in the book, "The Color Purple," portrayed as an uneducated Black woman who suffered years of mental and sexual abuse resulting in her being submissive around men.

During one instance, she said Gudes called her "Celie" and berated her in front of the city council's attorney, Martin Shelby, for not getting into his office quickly enough.

She said she felt he called her by the name of the character in the book to show his dominance and authority over her and belittle her.

She said her daughter was also on the receiving end of his misogynistic comments.

One Saturday while attending a community sporting event at Gudes's bidding, she said she brought along her then-13-year-old daughter. At one point, she said Gudes told her daughter, “You need to stand up straight. You have really big boobs and, if you keep standing like that your boobs will be down to here,” making a gesture.

She said the comment caused her daughter anxiety, fear and depression, in addition to impacting her body image. After that, she said her daughter would only wear baggy jackets when she was around Gudes.

The aide said Gudes also referred to her using other derogatory language and told her she served "at his pleasure" and that he was immune from punishment or consequences because he “reported to nobody, according to the lawsuit.

The aide said Gudes was equally abusive to the female college interns who worked in the office.

In the summer of 2019, Gudes hired a 19-year-old summer intern who was attending Duke University.

At one point, the aide said he approached his intern, who was reading a book written by Michelle Obama, and asked the intern, “Have you seen Sasha Obama? She has a hot body. I bet she’s wild.”

Sasha Obama was a minor at the time he made the comment, she said.

She said Gudes' "unabashedly inappropriate behavior led his intern to be fearful of being alone with Mr. Gudes."

The intern's parents also appealed to the aide not to leave their daughter alone with Gudes and the intern's father said he was "prepared to come to City Hall and confront Mr. Gudes for his disgusting behavior."

The aide said Gudes also made vulgar, obscene comments about fellow council member Joseph Citro, Castor, Tampa police Maj. Anna Richardson-Griffin, City Attorney Gina Grimes and former Chief Financial Officer Sonya Little.

See related stories:

• City Councilman Steps Down As Chair Amid Sexual Harassment Charges
• Sexual Harassment Accusations Filed Against Tampa City Councilman

The 40-page lawsuit gives example after example of scenarios in which Gudes denigrated the aide, her daughter, female interns, constituents and other city officials.

Finally, in June 2020, the aide said she confided in Councilman Luis Viera's legislative aide after Gudes came to her home to pick up work-related papers, leaned out of her car, sniffed toward her groin and said, "It smells like you had a man in there today," according to the lawsuit.

When Viera heard about the incident, he "escalated the matter to demand swift action for the outrageous behavior and abuse that Mr. Gudes had inflicted" on the aide.

But after meeting with officials in the city’s human resources department, the aide decided not to pursue her complaint. Instead, she asked Gudes to help her find another job within the city.

Loeb said the city advised the aide to file a complaint with the state or file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or Florida Commission on Human Relations.

Local governments' hands are somewhat tied when it comes to taking action against an elected official who serves at the will of his constituents. He is not a city employee and, therefore, is not subject to dismissal.

Otherwise, Castor said she would demand that Gudes be fired.

"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."

However, a week after the accusations against Gudes were made public, Castor held a news conference in which she laid out plans to increase transparency and accountability at City Hall.

“Although Tampa’s code of ethics is stronger than the state’s, these recent violations suggest that we can and should do more to improve transparency and accountability at City Hall," said Castor. "We must never stop working to improve the public trust in city government, and the public should never have even a shadow of a doubt that their public officials are working for the public good and not their own personal benefit.”