Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 4-8-22

Feature
Former City Council Aide Hires New Attorney
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last Thursday afternoon, March 31st, several members of the media gathered for a press conference. Unfortunately, the former Legislative Aide for City Councilman Orlando Gudes did not attend. Atty. Grady Irwin, who was repre- senting her at the time told the media he had received a text message from her stating that she had hired a new attorney.
The Sentinel has since
learned that the woman, who the Sentinel chooses not to identify at this point, report- edly hired Attorney Ethan Leob, who recently settled a lawsuit with former City Coun- cilman John Dingfelder that resulted in the former Councilman resigning from City Council.
According to an article in the Tampa Bay Business Journal, “the aide reached out to Leob on March 30, a spokeswoman for the attorney said, and she retained him as
ATTY. ETHAN LEOB ... New Attorney
her legal representative in the following days.”
The publication also quoted Attorney Leob as stating, “We look forward to the day when one of the most courageous people living in Tampa Bay, his former legisla- tive aide, can tell her story to a jury,” Loeb said, “and hold Councilman Gudes ac- countable for his illegal ac- tions and untoward behavior.”
The allegations the former Legislative Aide made became public last week when released by the City of Tampa. In the al- legations, the woman is claim- ing that she was subjected to name-calling, sexual gestures, crude statements, and other behavior unacceptable in a work environment. She fur- ther accused Councilman Gudes of creating a hostile
Atty. Grady Irwin is shown addressing the media at the cancelled press conference last Thursday. (Photo by Tonya Lewis)
work environment.
Councilman Gudes,
who stepped down as the Chairman of City Council, said he will not resign.
In reference to the allega- tions, Councilman Gudes said some of the accusations are true, but not all.
He further stated that she
was incapable of doing the job she was hired and requested that she be re-assigned. “I never fired her, I asked that she be moved. I was still look- ing out for her as a friend.”
He said the final straw for him came in July 2021 when the Aide was supposed to com- plete an assignment while we were working with the Buffalo Soldiers and she didn’t do it. “This caused great embarrass- ment to my office and I had to make the decision to take some type of action,” he said.
Councilman Gudes fur- ther stated that he and the Aide had been friends for sev- eral years, and he was asked by mutual friends to hire her as his Legislative Aide. He also said although she was not suited for the position, he gave her good evaluations because he was trying “to look out for her” as he told their mutual friends that he would.
PAGE 2-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 8, 2022