I am not vouching for the accuracy of any of it, but since it's legitimate (that is, non-blog) news, it's time to reprint the whole thing, so her you go; draw your own conclusions:
Please let the following letter serve as my complaint against the Office of the Regional Conflict Counsel 4th District (hereinafter referred to as "RCC") being initiated pursuant to Florida Statute 112.3187 5(b), essentially claiming gross mismanagement, a continuous pattern of managerial abuses, wrongful or arbitrary and capricious acts and conduct that may have a substantial adverse economic impact.
After a longstanding professional relationship with Judith Migdal-Mack and Michelle Migdal of Migdal & Migdal P.A., private attorneys hired as Chief Assistants of the Civil Division to Mr. Massa, in October 2007, I accepted a position with the RCC as a Managing Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit in the Civil and Mental Health Division. At that time the new office was facing litigation claiming that Mr. Massa’s appointed position was unconstitutional. My office employment began in January 2008 although I attended organizational meetings at the Migdal’s law office prior to that.
The position that I accepted was to be based out of Stuart Florida although I was
responsible for court coverage of the civil cases in St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee Counties. I was told that until the Stuart office opened I would be reimbursed for my mileage and would work out of the West Palm Beach office.
However at the time of my hire, the RCC 4th District did not have an operating state office. The office was being set- up and run out of the private practice owned and operated for over twenty years by the Migdal & Migdal P.A. This office was located in Boynton Beach Florida. The Migdals were responsible for the creation, organization and staffing of the civil division in the 15th, 19th, and 17th Judicial Circuits. Mr. Massa, myself and the other managing attorneys were given keys to this private law office and allowed to use the office equipment and computers free of charge. The 4th District RCC operated out of the private law office of Migdal & Migdal from October 2007 until mid-January 2008 without any reimbursement for the use of the equipment or space.
I was further advised by Mr. Massa of the challenges this new agency faced and I assured him of my willingness and commitment to the mission of the RCC. I agreed to take the position because of my knowledge and faith in Judith and Michelle Migdal’s ethics and organization skills. They were willing to close their practice to work for the RCC and Mr. Massa and that allowed me the faith and determination to leave my job and work with them in this new and exciting project. Mr. Massa assured us of his desire to reward all who were willing to take on the challenges this office faced at the onset. The salary that was offered was lower than I requested but Mr. Massa indicated that although he could not pay the requested amount, he would reward the attorneys who worked with him in the beginning to set-up this agency once he was up and running.
My commitment to this new agency extended to my following the lead of the Chief Assistants and agreeing to use my own resources to help with the new office. Mr. Massa was having difficulty securing space for his new offices. We were required to continue to use our homes, cell phones, internet services, home computers and printers without reimbursement. The Migdals and myself worked tirelessly to establish relationships in the 19th Circuit and to hire the attorneys needed to cover those four counties. We went about the administrative aspect of managing and setting up the only space finally secured in the 19th Circuit in downtown Fort Pierce.
At the beginning of March 2008 the 15th and 19th Circuits Civil Divisions were fully staffed and located in state leased office space. The staff in the 19th Circuit were notified of a reorganization to the management of the office without my knowledge or presence. As Managing Attorney I was not consulted or notified and was not even present when the news was told to my staff. Mr. Massa removed the Migdals from their position in the 19th Circuit and placed a long term friend, Jennifer Hixson in charge of the 19th Circuit’s Civil and Criminal Divisions . Mr. Massa stated that he had overhired for the 19th Circuit and he decided to reorganize management personnel and the manner in which the office operates. The friend that he hired possessed 6 months experience working in dependency law and was clearly without the necessary qualifications for the position.
Once the change in management came into effect, the lack of understanding or respect for the dependency system and the rights of the children to permanency became clear. A practice which engaged unethical acts began. The rights of the indigent people we have been appointed to represent and protect were unprotected. The management team which included the Office Administrator, Liza Brown, housed in the Fort Pierce office, created a hostile, offensive, abusive work environment from the onset, by engaging crude and condescending behavior. Attorneys were expected to perform acts that were not part of their job duties and have been chastised for their inability or unwillingness to do so. The Office Administrator failed to supply employees with answers to much needed policy questions with regard to the amount of annual or sick leave and the manner in which this is accrued. Instead she lied and mischaracterized information and has failed to provide any concrete answers to questions about procedures and benefits. She regularly demeaned support staff and criticized employees for seeking personnel answers on the State of Florida’s People First website. When confronted about representations that were made by both Mr. Massa and the administrator, the administrator described these representations as "myths" and employees as being misinformed but failed to correct the errors in communication. Moreover, any questions regarding issues that effect employees were treated as complaints and the attorney or support staff was criticized for requesting any information.
At the beginning of March 2008 when the friend, Ms. Hixson was appointed as Assistant Chief in the 19th Circuit a policy of personal harassment towards myself began. Ms. Hixson job duties have mostly consisted of taking attendance and treating professionals in a manner that would suggest she is not aware of what being a professional means. Ms. Hixson had been working part-time for the agency in Vero Beach. She claimed her caseload was much larger than it was and she was too busy to actually spend any time in the Fort Pierce office with her new staff. Ms. Hixson met with me at the Martin County Court once and held a ten minute conversation when she questioned how I felt about handling a jury trial on a felony or misdemeanor criminal cases. My response was that I was not a criminal attorney and I did not feel comfortable with this. I informed Mr. Massa and Ms. Hixson that I would be willing to learn how to handle those types of serious criminal cases if I was giving the opportunity to observe other attorneys and training. I also asked for some additional time to review the statutes and rules of criminal procedure. I indicated that it would not be ethical for me to represent a defendant in a criminal proceeding. She indicated to me that the new plan for the office was to now require me to handle misdemeanor and possibly felony cases immediately and that I could review the statutes and rules on my own time. No further discussion was had about this matter. She further indicated that the newly hired attorneys in Fort Pierce could handle the delinquency cases without any training. She indicated that such representation was simple work because the children charged with serious crimes where just minors and since they did not face any jail time whatever result would not be significant. I once again contacted Mr. Massa to voice my concerns regarding his offices' demand that I practice in an unethical manner representing criminal defendants. I received no response.
I was then informed that there was a crisis in the 19th Circuit Criminal Division (The crisis was caused by the former Criminal Chief, Mike Takiff failing to organize or staff the 19th Circuit. This poor management by Mr. Takiff led to his promotion to Chief Assistant responsible for the criminal and civil divisions in the 17th Circuit. Two months into the process, and he still had not even introduced himself to the judges of the 19th Circuit). The Criminal division continued to miss hearings, orders were lost, and there was no organization or record of criminal cases received from the courts. Mr. Garcia, Deputy Chief admitted to me that Mr. Massa's communication skills were poor and that he himself might have handled these changes in the 19th circuit differently. He also admitted that Mr. Massa reorganization of management was not handled appropriately.
Mrs. Hixson has made it clear to me that she was hired to police our office and treat me as if I had not been performing my job for the past three months. She continued to argue that all attorneys could handle felony cases without training. In addition, her purpose appears to be to create or manufacture a record that would support my termination. She continued to call or email me numerous times during the day to ask me my location.
On March 17th, 2008 I was treated with disrespect and embarrassed in front of my peers by Mr. Massa. I had no hearings scheduled in Fort Pierce; I attempted to work out of the West Palm Beach Office. Mr. Massa returned to the office and was furious to see me there. He started yelling at me and telling me that he did not want me in the West Palm Beach Office he wanted me in the Fort Pierce Office, and if I did not start getting some criminal cases out there, he would have to start firing people. I advised him that I was not hired to work out of Fort Pierce on a daily basis and he told me that since the Stuart Office was not ready he wanted me in Fort Pierce. He insisted that I leave the West Palm Office immediately. At approximately 3pm. I packed my bags and went home for a late lunch. At that time Jennifer Hixson called my home, she later sent me an email questioning why I was at home. Since Mr. Massa indicated that I was not allowed to visit or work out of the West Palm Beach office without prior approval from him. I had previously been allowed to work remotely because of the lack of internet access in the Fort Pierce office and the fact that I did not have an office space in Fort Pierce; I worked at home until 7:00pm on that date. To date no office policy on this issue was provided. However the past use of the Migdals’ office equipment and space without reimbursement and the use of home computers and printers by all employees had been encouraged and condoned by Mr. Massa.
On March 14th, Mr. Massa advised me that our Fort Pierce office was having a meeting on March 28th and immediately following the meeting he wished to discuss my "unauthorized absence from work on March 17th." He also told me that Ms. Hixson was my only supervisor and later advised me that he would not longer pay my mileage from West Palm Beach. Additionally, I was expected to immediately start taking criminal cases. Upon this announcement, I once again sent an email to both Mr. Massa and Ms. Hixson requesting training in criminal law. I asked for additional time to review the rules and observe other counsel. Mr. Massa never responded to that email. Ms. Hixson's response was that I must immediately represent the criminal defendants regardless of the ethical considerations and concerns I have voiced. The RCC 4th District apparently was not concerned with the ethical violations, or the rights of the accused to full and fair representation.
In the last two weeks it has become painfully obvious to me Mr. Massa and Ms. Hixson’s intentions. My position apparently had been modified without discussion. I was criticized for attempting to secure information from a court clerk on a criminal case that the office had been appointed to. When a client called the office looking for their attorney, I tried to locate the client’s information. I could not secure any file or information from Mr. Takiff and had to consult the clerk. The Court file indicated that the office had been appointed weeks before and that the order had been faxed to Mr. Takiff’s personal home fax machine. The office had no record of the order, no file, and no information. My attempts to help the client were criticized by my superiors. I was advised in no uncertain terms that I did not have any authority to speak to the clerk of the court, provide directives or request documentation.
Mr. Massa has spoken to other attorneys in the office to request the opinions of my job performance and work ethics. He has told these attorneys that he was considering terminating my employment. He has never spoken to me regarding my job performance. Instead he has engaged in a secretive harassment technique by communicating with other attorneys about me. Mr. Massa has engaging in slander in making such statements regarding the quality of my work. Mr. Massa wanted to promote his friend Ms. Hixson and it is clear that he can not justify both my and her existence in the 19th Circuit. Additionally, because Mr. Massa has failed to adequately staff attorneys to handle the criminal caseloads in the 19th circuit, and is attempting to fix his errors by requiring the untrained civil attorneys to handle criminal matters. The attorneys including myself were never consulted and never agreed to handle such criminal matters. On March 24, 2008, Mr. Massa terminated the employment of Judith Migdal-Mack and Michelle Migdal without any notice or explanation. These two Chief Assistants were the original organizers of the Civil Division. Clearly Mr. Massa knew that the Migdals would not agree to the ethical misconduct being requested of the civil attorneys.
Therefore the RCC 4th District has engaged in continuing behavior that is inappropriate and unethical and all of the above is supported by documentation currently in my possession and available upon request. As indicated in the many examples provided in the letter, the RCC 4th District has exhibited illegal behavior that includes:
· Bullying Creating a hostile work environment ( threatening to fire employees if they do not handle criminal cases because his manager failed to adequately staff), creating a negative and unhealthy environment that in which is it impossible to work effectively.
· Poor communication- The RCC has failed to provide any feedback on performance, any information regarding policy and procedures or job requirements. Mr. Massa and his staff have communicated with assumptions and lack of direction. (The RCC has never provided information regarding leave etc.)
· Engaging in micromanaging-expecting constant reports from attorneys. (i.e., sending email questioning where Managers are and what they are doing)
· Disorganization and indecision- Failure to staff the 19th circuit criminal division and relying on the untrained civil attorneys to handle criminal hearings.
· Discourtesy- Mr. Massa, Mr.Garcia, Ms. Brown and Ms. Hixson fail to offer common courtesies, or treat employees with common dignity and respect. The disparaging manner to which attorneys and support staff have been treated is unacceptable and has resulted in a desire to limit any conversation or interaction. Two members of the support staff left the West Palm Beach office and filed complaints with the Governor’s office regarding such treatment.
· The unequal treatment of employees ( Mr. Massa recently terminated the employment of Michelle Migdal and Judith Migdal-Mack without any prior warning or notification and without justification). They were not consulted on any management or policy changes because Mr. Massa was aware that their strong support of excellent representation for all children and adults would conflict with his plans for the agency.
· The RCC led by Mr. Massa and Mr. Garcia have lied and fabricated situations to suit their purposes and plans for the agency. Job descriptions, reimbursements, parking spaces, etc. were promised but never provided.
· The RCC has imposed unreasonable demands and now is attempting to enforce policies that have never been communicated to staff. Such expectations are unreasonable and allow for only failure. ( He has required that I go to an office daily in which I was not hired, where I do not possess an office or a desk and refuses to reimburse me for mileage when that was previously promised).
It is clear to me that Mr. Massa's failures, inadequacies, lack of communication skills and poor management has defeated the purpose for which he was appointed and contradict the Statute that created his position. The level of mismanagement, misconduct, and mistreatment of employees in RCC 4th District demands attention. Please feel free to contact me to discuss these issues and for further information. Thank you for your attention and time.
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