Florida officials announced a multimillion-dollar settlement last week in litigation filed against the Florida Coalition for Domestic Violence and the coalition’s president and CEO.
Tiffany Carr, who took over as head of the coalition in January 2000, was accused of creating an excessive pay scheme, which provided her with $7.5 million over three years, according to a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Ashley Moody in 2020. Carr was also accused of misusing state grant funds.
“Today’s settlement is a win in our fight to recover money that was intended to help families rebuild after facing domestic violence,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said in a prepared statement. “This organization acted in greed, abusing state dollars meant to serve families during their most vulnerable times. I am thankful this injustice was righted … with the return of this money.”
Under the terms of the settlement, $3.9 million will be paid by former coalition officers and directors to the state Department of Children and Families. That includes a payment of more than $2 million from Carr. In addition, more than $1 million from the coalition’s current accounts will go to domestic violence facilities throughout Florida.
In a statement provided to the Florida Record by Carr’s attorney, Christopher Kise, Carr said her career was dedicated to helping the victims of domestic abuse.
“Under her leadership, funding and resources available to the coalition grew from an annual budget of a few million dollars to over $70 million, the number of shelter nights almost tripled (from 273,131 in 1999 to 646,971 in fiscal-year 2018-19),” the statement said.
During this period, Florida also adopted some of the toughest domestic violence statutes in the country, according to the statement.
“Despite the public barrage of unsubstantiated allegations regarding her compensation, Ms. Carr was at all times employed by the coalition pursuant to a valid contract, written in plain English, and the terms of that contract, and her compensation, were determined and established not by Ms. Carr, but by an independent committee of the coalition’s unpaid board,” the statement said.
In agreeing to the settlement, Carr admitted no liability and expressed a desire to eliminate protracted litigation. The settlement ends all litigation relative to anything having to do with the coalition, according to Kise.
Attorney General Moody, however, left open the possibility of a future criminal filing.
“The agreement, which remains subject to court approval, resolves multiple pending civil actions but has no bearing on the ability of law enforcement to bring criminal charges associated with the misuse of taxpayer and charitable funds,” a news release from the Attorney General’s Office states.