Top staffer on maternity leave fired from Florida state attorney’s office, suit says

A staffer was fired while she was on maternity leave from a Florida state attorney’s office after she requested additional time off for a postpartum condition, according to a lawsuit.

Keisha Mulfort was the chief of staff and director of public affairs for Monique Worrell, the former state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, according to the federal lawsuit filed June 18.

McClatchy News reached out to the state attorney’s office for comment on the lawsuit and did not immediately receive a response June 21.

“Unfortunately, Ms. Mulfort’s FMLA status at the time was not a legal bar to the termination process,” the office told WKMG at the time of Mulfort’s firing.

In October 2022, Mulfort told her employer she was pregnant, and she began her maternity leave in late May 2023 when she gave birth, according to the lawsuit.

In early August, a few weeks before her leave ended, she was diagnosed with postpartum depression and began the process of requesting additional time off, the lawsuit says.

Then on Aug. 9, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Worrell, saying she neglected “her duty to faithfully prosecute crime in her jurisdiction,” and he appointed Andrew Bain in her place.

That day, Mulfort said she got a call and email from work asking her to provide an account password and give another staff member a call, which she said violated her protected leave, according to the lawsuit.

The next day, deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office arrived at her home alongside staffers with the state attorney’s office to “repossess all state property,” according to the lawsuit.

Once everyone left her home, she said an investigator gave her two letters from the state attorney’s office saying she was terminated, effective the day before, Aug. 9.

In a statement to WKMG, the state attorney’s office said “attempts to communicate with her to notify her of her separation were unsuccessful. Therefore, it was necessary to notify her in person and also attempt to retrieve the office’s state-issued equipment.”

Mulfort objected to her termination and the way it was carried out.

“How they handled us was egregious, it was wrong, and each of them should be ashamed of themselves,” Mulfort told WOFL.

The lawsuit names Bain in his official capacity as well as the state attorney’s office, accusing them of interfering with the Family and Medical Leave Act, violating the Florida Civil Rights Act and retaliating against her.

Mulfort is seeking compensation for lost wages and damages.

The Ninth Judicial Circuit covers Orange County and Osceola County in central Florida.

This story was originally published June 21, 2024 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Top staffer on maternity leave fired from Florida state attorney’s office, suit says."