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More Gross Legal Incompetence and/or Corruption At City Hall

The saga of disgraced Miami City Attorney Jorge Fernandez continues. This time -- wait for it -- it involves a "poorly drafted" employment agreement that may give Fernandez as much as $250k in severance, irrespective of the reasons for his termination:

In a statement in Spanish and English, he formally admitted that he was reimbursed by the city for expenses unrelated to his job. One example was a $600 reimbursement he received after throwing a $1,500 party for his son at the Rusty Pelican Restaurant. Fernandez will have to pay back $3,000 in dubious reimbursements and another $11,000 for the cost of the investigation.

But his gray cloud may have a silver lining. "He certainly could be looking at more than $250,000," said Commissioner Marc Sarnoff. Sarnoff, who is also a labor attorney, said Fernandez's generous severance is a failure on the city's part. "This is poorly negotiated, poorly bargained for on behalf of the city, whoever did this," Sarnoff said.

Sarnoff said he has been told that Fernandez is in line for $186,000 in severance pay and another $86,000 for vacation and sick time. Commissioners have hired an outside lawyer to see if they have to pay.

According to the city attorney's contract, Fernandez is due severance whenever he "separates" from city employment. There's no exception, even for resigning under a corruption cloud. The language in Fernandez's latest contract seems absolute, Bogert reported. He's entitled to six months pay when he separates. That's a change from his first contract, which gave commissioners discretion on whether to pay up.

"Someone did a job very favorable to the city attorney," Sarnoff said. "I'd like to know who negotiated that because that person should be brought up before the commission."

Hmm, I wonder who did negotiate that sweetheart deal.....

Full post as published by South Florida Lawyers on February 20, 2008 (boomark / email).