How much more can Carollo’s legal drama hurt Miami? A new lawsuit offers a hint | Opinion
When Miami city commissioner Joe Carollo went to federal court to defend himself against a years-long lawsuit filed by two Little Havana businessmen accusing him of political retaliation, he was represented by a high-profile South Florida lawyer and an entourage of attorneys.
Of course, Carollo wasn’t on the hook for paying for that legal team.
The city of Miami, under counsel from now-removed City Attorney Victoria Mendez, made the case that Carollo was “entitled to legal representation at public expense,” as her office told the Herald Editorial Board in 2023.
The cost of defending Carollo and the city against a series of lawsuits filed by William Fuller and Martin Pinilla has run up to $10 million, according to a May 13 lawsuit filed by the city’s legal insurance company. The complaint claims QBE Specialty Insurance Company “has no duty to defend the City or any of those individual defendants.” The company wants back the $5 million it has already paid to the city, the Herald reported.
For now, this is just a lawsuit. Carollo told the Herald he doesn’t believe a judge would order the city to pay back the $5 million.
If he’s wrong, and QBE prevails in court, this will be yet another burden Carollo places on Miami and its taxpayers. Perhaps that would be no greater than the damage he has done to Miami’s image by using his elected position to launch personal vendettas against his enemies. Carollo, of course, is not alone in eroding public trust. He’s gotten help from a former commissioner arrested on bribery charges last year and the mayor’s ties to a local developer and numerous outside employment gigs.
A federal jury last year found Carollo liable for using Miami’s code enforcement to target Little Havana establishments owned by Fuller and Pinilla in retaliation for their support of his 2017 election opponent. The jury ordered Carollo to pay them a $63.5 million judgment. The other lawsuits mentioned in QBE’s complaint are still pending, the Herald reported.
Fuller and Pinilla are also named as defendants in QBE’s lawsuit. They sued QBE earlier this year asking the insurance company for over $18.6 million for attorney’s fees and a portion of the damages from the $63.5 million judgment, the Herald reported.
Miami is facing a $25 million budget cut and a hiring freeze has been implemented across its 4,000-member workforce, the Herald reported. If the city ends up owing that $5 million, how will officials explain that to city taxpayers?
Critics have for years questioned why anyone other than Carollo was on the hook for his legal defense in a case that stemmed from his personal issues with the two businessmen. QBE makes a similar argument in its lawsuit, claiming the “Florida Supreme Court has declared that ‘one should not be able to insure against one’s own intentional misconduct.’”
“The fundamental premise underlying each and every one of the Underlying Lawsuits is that Carollo – through his own actions and by conscripting others to do his bidding – engaged in a years-long campaign of retaliation and harassment with the conscious objective of inflicting harm on the underlying plaintiffs,” the insurance company’s complaint states.
In the end, with two new commissioners on the dais, Mendez’s staunch support for defending Carollo in court contributed to her firing last month.
Commissioner Damian Pardo, who introduced the motion to remove Mendez, told the Herald Editorial Board she supported Carollo “at the expense of residents of the city of Miami.” Carollo was the only commissioner who voted against her removal in the 4-1 vote.
Time and time again, Miami has proven that politicians can manipulate the system for their own gain at the cost of the public good. This time, the cost might be a hefty price tag.
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