A Miami commissioner fighting a $63.5 million civil damages verdict for political retaliation would be able to stop the garnishment of his city salary under a federal judge’s recommendation that was handed down on Aug. 14.
Judge Lauren Louis made the recommendation in the Southern District of Florida, finding that the garnishment writ for Commissioner Joseph Carollo should be dissolved. Carollo’s wages had been subjected to garnishment in the wake of Miami businessmen William Fuller and Martin Pinilla II winning civil damages after they accused the commissioner of retaliating against their businesses over the pair’s support for an opposition candidate.
But Louis rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that Carollo should not receive an exemption from the garnishment based on a head-of-family claim that he provided more than one-half of his wife’s support.
“Plaintiffs’ opposing arguments are difficult to pin down,” Louis said in her Report and Recommendations. “They clothe what amounts to the same factual contention – that (Marjorie) Carollo is not truly dependent on Mr. Carollo’s salary – in a variety of legal and factual theories. … None of Plaintiffs’ legal arguments are persuasive.”
But the judge did say she shared some of the plaintiffs’ skepticism about the Carollos’ testimony in the case. The couple’s testimony was contradicted at certain points by financial documents, and some of their pronouncements were uncorroborated by records, Louis said.
The plaintiffs argued that Florida law does not allow a debtor to arrange and reposition his finances to show that the income pays for more than 50% of the spouse’s expenses, but Louis rejected that contention.
Carollo’s attorney, Benedict Kuehne, said in a statement emailed to the Florida Record that the judge’s recommendation was a win for working Floridians since it provides protection for families when “predatory creditors” try to garnish workers’ pay.
“Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and his family are vindicated by the federal court validation of his exemption as the head of his family because he supports his wife and his household with his city salary,” Kuehne’s statement says. “With this favorable ruling, Commissioner Carollo has protected the head-of-family exemption from garnishment.”
As the commissioner for the city’s District 3, Carollo will continue to protect the welfare of all of Miami’s residents and businesses, according to the statement.
“Commissioner Carollo looks forward to prevailing in the federal court of appeals as he demonstrates the creditors’ claims are without merit,” the statement says.
Fuller and Pinilla’s response to the judge’s recommendation on the garnishment, however, contends that Carollo’s claim for a homestead exemption under the state’s constitution is ”tainted by his fraudulent, egregious and reprehensible conduct.” The plaintiffs’ allege Carollo worked to create an “illegal gerrymander” that moved his home from District 2 to District 3 in order to set up conditions to obtain the exemption, according to the plaintiffs’ filing on Aug. 16.
“On one hand, to continue earning the salary needed to pay for the property as (an elected) commissioner for District 3, Carollo could not reside in the property located in District 2,” the plaintiffs’ request for a new hearing states. “… On the other hand, to claim the property as his homestead, Carollo could only reside in the property located in District 2.”
Louis, however, found none of the plaintiffs’ arguments to be persuasive.
“After a thorough review of the documentary evidence, the undersigned finds that a preponderance of the evidence supports the claim of exemption,” the judge said.