The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a petition from Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo seeking a review of a federal lawsuit filed by two businessmen who accused him of free speech violations and retaliatory tactics.
The high court’s Oct. 3 decision opens the door to a federal district court trial. Business partners William Fuller and Martin Pinilla initially filed their lawsuit in 2018, accusing Carollo of using city employees and resources in a campaign of retribution against Fuller and Pinilla that upended their rights to free speech and assembly.
“For 10 months, Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo has obliterated these fundamental rights by using the power and influence of his government office to engage in a campaign of harassment, retribution and retaliation against (the) plaintiffs,” the business partners said in their original complaint. “Carollo’s actions, designed to destroy (the) plaintiffs’ businesses and reputations, is pure political payback – targeting plaintiffs simply because they dared to support Carollo’s opponent in a runoff election, and because they filed an ethics complaint against Carollo.”
The allegations outlined in the litigation include attempts to shut down the “wildly popular Viernes Culturales, merely because plaintiff Fuller is the chairman of the board of that nonprofit organization,” as well as the use of city employees to conduct “illegal searches and government surveillances” of the plaintiffs’ properties.
Carollo’s attorney, Benedict Kuehne, said his client was disappointed at the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision not to review his appeal, which argued that the lawsuit lacked merit due to his qualified immunity protections as an elected official.
“Commissioner Carollo remains confident he will prevail in this baseless lawsuit brought by local business owners who continue to refuse to comply with the laws applicable to all business owners in the city of Miami,” Kuehne said in an email to the Florida Record. “Commissioner Carollo shall continue to fulfill the mandate of the city of Miami and his duties as an elected representative by protecting the health, safety and welfare of the citizens. … He will not alter his service to the community merely because of threats and attacks by those who demand special treatment.”
Carollo and his attorneys indicated they will rebut the accusations presented by Fuller and Pinilla and pledged to seek sanctions against the businessmen.
In their original complaint, Fuller and Pinilla said they would seek punitive damages amounting to at least $2.5 million that cannot be paid by the city in order to dissuade Carollo from future “despicable conduct.”