Explosive lawsuit accuses Chris Anderson of bad behavior

Seminole County Elections Supervisor Chris Anderson was hit with a lawsuit from his former general counsel that raises explosive allegations and accuses Anderson of slander.

A spokesperson said Friday that Anderson declined to comment and that his office is focused on preparing for the upcoming election. Meanwhile, Anderson, a Republican, is also up for reelection and faces a Republican challenger and a Democratic opponent.

The new lawsuit accuses Anderson of giving favors to friends. It invokes the name of Joel Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector currently serving 11 years in prison for several crimes.

Philip and Sara Kaprow sued Anderson and his wife in Seminole County Circuit Court this week after a fallout last year after Kaprow resigned from representing Anderson’s office over ethical concerns.

Even though he was no longer the general counsel for the supervisor election’s office, Kaprow was still counsel for the Seminole County Canvassing Board – an independent organization from the election supervisor’s office, although Anderson was a member.

The county hired Kaprow to handle election laws and other legal issues on behalf of the canvassing board.

When Anderson found out, the lawsuit said, he “proceeded to unleash a torrent of defamatory, threatening, and offensive statements directed at Mr. Kaprow and at Mrs. Kaprow.”

“On Sept. 22, 2023, Mr. Anderson wearing apparel that clearly and unequivocally identified him as the Office of the Supervisor, during regular office hours, in front of the Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Office building, concocted, created, performed, and published a 55-minute Facebook live video,” the lawsuit said.

Anderson’s wife joined the Facebook live video in front of their kids.

The Andersons attacked and ridiculed the Kaprows’ jobs, their integrity, and even their Jewish religion, the lawsuit said.

“The Tirade was published on social media and viewed by eight (8) million viewers (according to Mrs. Anderson’s statements made during the Tirade),” the lawsuit said.

“You guys are using your power to try and bring everybody down, including me,” were comments from the video, according to the lawsuit. “Everything [Mr. Kaprow] touches is illegal.”

Kaprow listed several reasons that led to him resigning from Anderson’s general counsel in the first place.

Anderson, who is Black, publicly implied he had been racially discriminated against by county officials for not being allowed to move into a new government building.

Kaprow said he was brought in to clean up the situation and spoke to the county attorney, who suggested that Anderson could write a statement to set the record straight if Anderson didn’t think anyone discriminated against him.

Then Anderson turned around and gave media interviews claiming “quid pro quo” that if he wrote a statement saying he didn’t believe the country discriminated against him, he could move into the new government building, the lawsuit said.

Kaprow said Anderson’s claims weren’t true, that there was no quid pro quo, and that Kaprow’s reputation would be damaged if Anderson kept repeating the charge.

“Each time Mr. Anderson made the Quid Pro Quo Accusation, Mr. Anderson knew that he was spewing falsehoods,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also accused Anderson of hiring his friends – like his next-door neighbor who had “no apparent qualifications” to be his chief compliance officer.

The lawsuit alleges the employees were underqualified and overpaid, although it doesn’t say what their salaries were. When Florida Politics asked, the elections office spokesperson did not immediately provide the figures Friday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Anderson to run the county’s elections in 2019.

“Prior to Mr. Anderson’s appointment, Mr. Anderson worked as the Security Chief for Joel Greenberg, the disgraced former Seminole County Tax Collector,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said, “During his association with Joel Greenberg at the Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office, Mr. Anderson learned and adopted the practice of nepotism, witnessed and facilitated the contentious relationship between the Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office and the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners, observed the ability of an elected official to gain notoriety by making inappropriate statements and taking extreme actions using his office as ‘cover.’ Mr. Anderson emulated and promoted these tactics to further his own political interests and aspirations.”