Court Warns Florida Panel On Whistle-blower Cases

TALLAHASSEEE, Fla. (AP) – A court again has admonished the Florida Human Relations Commission to follow its own rules and give people a chance to fix problems with their whistle-blower complaints before rejecting them.

The 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday in Tallahassee gave the same warning last month and again Friday. In both cases, though, the court was unable to order the commission to reopen them due to legal technicalities.

In the January case Ranell Tillery Jr. had accused the Department of Juvenile Justice of firing him in retaliation for his complaint that officials had lied and covered up racial comments.

Friday’s case similarly involved Brian Stanton’s dismissal from the state Health Department after he filed a complaint alleging officials had misused funds.

Both complaints had technical deficiencies.