Judge Cancels Hearing in Senate Discrimination Case

November 7, 2018

By NSF Staff

A federal judge has canceled a scheduled Thursday hearing on a request by the Florida Senate to be shielded from a discrimination case filed by a legislative aide who alleges she was a victim of sexual harassment and retaliation. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle on Tuesday issued an order calling off the hearing because of questions about whether he or an appeals court should consider the matter. Hinkle had been scheduled to hear arguments on a Senate request for a preliminary injunction in the case involving aide Rachel Perrin Rogers, who filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January. Lawyers for the Senate are seeking the injunction to block an administrative law judge from requiring the Senate's participation in the EEOC case. The Senate contends, in part, that it is protected by the legal doctrine of sovereign immunity. But EEOC lawyers are fighting the request, arguing in a court filing last week that the Senate is attempting an “end run around that existing proceeding before an assigned administrative law judge.” Hinkle’s decision to cancel the hearing pointed to the questions about which court should take up the issue, saying the parties had not addressed whether “any attempt to block the EEOC proceedings must be brought in an appropriate court of appeals, not in a district court.” He gave both sides time to file briefs about the “jurisdictional” issue. Perrin Rogers was at the center of a sexual-harassment investigation late last year that led to the resignation of powerful Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater. Perrin Rogers alleged that Latvala harassed her, triggering the Senate to appoint a special master to investigate the accusations. The special master, former state appellate Judge Ronald Swanson, found probable cause to support Perrin Rogers’ allegations --- though Latvala has steadfastly denied them. Perrin Rogers, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, subsequently filed the EEOC complaint against the Senate, alleging in part that she faced retaliation.