Peter Schorsch
A sexual harassment investigation is what spurred Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to tell Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) Commissioner Drew Breakspear that he “no longer ha(s) confidence” in Breakspear’s ability to lead the office, sources tell Florida Politics.
Public records released Tuesday show that OFR Deputy Commissioner Pamela Epting received a copy of results of an investigation that could not substantiate sexual harassment had occurred. Epting is second in charge under Breakspear, who reports to Patronis. The office acts as the state’s watchdog for the financial industry.
OFR spokeswoman Jamie Mongiovi later on Tuesday said the office “did take additional steps to address the employee’s behavior” even though there was no finding of sexual harassment:
— The accused employee received “corrective counseling.”
— The complainant received a copy of DFS’ recommendation and OFR’s modified recommendation.
— The OFR required that all division staff review and acknowledge Florida’s code of conduct and agency policy regarding the standard of conduct for OFR employees.
“The agency treats allegations of sexual harassment very seriously,” Mongiovi said. “The OFR did not decline the IG report or CFO/DFS’ recommendation. The OFR requested to modify DFS’ recommendation, and implement its own recommendation, which included corrective counseling for the accused employee.”
The investigation was launched after an OFR employee complained that a male co-worker inappropriately touched her breast while he was drunk last June at an “after hours event” following an annual training in Fort Lauderdale.
An inspector general’s investigation showed the employee said she felt “very violated” by what she called a “round finger grip” by an “extremely intoxicated” co-worker and had to “physically remove” the man’s hand from her breast.
The co-worker said the contact was unintentional, a “pure accident” according to the report. He denied any sexual harassment had taken place. She countered that his drunkenness was not an “acceptable excuse,” the report said.
Both worked at the OFR’s Tallahassee office. Mongiovi said the man is still employed at OFR in Tallahassee, but his alleged victim moved out of state to accept a job offer from a private company.
“I’m not afraid of him, I just … I don’t want to have any interaction,” that woman said, according to the report. “I don’t want to talk to him. I know he’s probably not going to talk to me, which is fine. Um, I just … I really don’t want to see him. It’s not fear … I’m just uncomfortable.”
A third co-worker who was at the event, to whom the woman later spoke about the incident, said the woman felt “very humilated, very disrespected … she didn’t know what to do but it was bothering her very, very much.”
“(T)here are morals and values that, you know, — and then incidents like this should not happen and everyone needs to be responsible and take responsibility for their actions,” that co-worker said.
On Nov. 13, 2017, Kenyetta Moye – employee relations manager for the Department of Financial Services – sent a “report and recommendation” to Epting.
While the “contact appears to have been subjectively and objectively unwelcome,” the report concluded it did not rise to the level of “severe and pervasive conduct” needed to establish a claim of sexual harassment.
None of the reports and emails released by Patronis’ office on Tuesday show that they were sent directly to Breakspear, nor was he copied on any.
Epting has been with the state since 1986, including as director of OFR’s Division of Securities, before being named OFR deputy commissioner in October 2015.
* * *
Patronis, a Panama City Republican running for re-election this year, sent a letter to Breakspear earlier this month, saying “over the last 10 months, I have developed concerns over the lack of cooperation, responsiveness, and communication from your office in its dealings with your customers and Florida’s financial services community.”
“My experiences with you and your office, and the feedback I have received from my staff, have validated these concerns. I believe this is due to a lack of leadership at the top.
“… I no longer have confidence in your ability to lead the Office of Financial Regulation. I am extending you the courtesy of letting you know that I am prepared to discuss these issues during your assessment review at the Cabinet meeting on May 15, 2018. Should there be a change in leadership, I am prepared to recommend an interim commissioner to ensure continuity of operations.”
That meeting was later canceled, and the Breakspear matter was deferred to the next scheduled Cabinet meeting on June 13. Breakspear has served as Commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation since November 2012.
“I am proud of the work the Office of Financial Regulation has done to protect the people of Florida and regulate the financial services industry,” he said in a later statement. “To date, I have had no discussions with CFO Patronis concerning the issues raised in his letter. I have since reached out to him and look forward to discussing his letter with him soon.
“I will reserve making further comment until such time as we have had this discussion.”
Breakspear answers to the state’s Financial Services Commission, made up of Patronis, Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
Under state law, the Commission can fire Breakspear “by a majority vote consisting of at least three affirmative votes, with both the Governor and the Chief Financial Officer on the prevailing side.” Scott and Patronis are friends and political allies.
“We learned of the CFO’s concerns from his letter,” Scott spokesman McKinley Lewis said in an email. “This will be discussed at the next meeting of the Florida Cabinet.”
(Editor’s note: An earlier draft of this article stated that the accused co-worker had admitted he was extremely intoxicated; this sentence has been revised to show that that description came from the complainant.)
