FDLE employee who alleged ‘retaliation’ from DeSantis’ office fired over inappropriate work relationship, conduct

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – An internal investigation has revealed that a Florida Department of Law Enforcement deputy chief of staff was dismissed over several credible allegations of harboring an inappropriate workplace relationship, creating a hostile work environment, and other actions of misconduct.

The document, obtained by Florida’s Voice, affirms five administrative violations on the part of Patricia Carpenter, who was the deputy chief of staff in the Office of the Director of FDLE.

The News Service of Florida via Tampa Bay Times was one outlet to report last year that Carpenter “sought whistleblower protection” and said that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ aides engaged in “retaliation” against an attorney who wanted some public records from the governor’s office released.

The report’s framing indicated that the personnel dismissal occurred as part of a retaliatory effort by DeSantis’ office to punish those seeking to publicize records from the Executive Office of the Governor.

However, her dismissal was over repeated misconduct, including having an inappropriate work relationship with her superior, chief of staff Shane Desguin, who was also dismissed last year.

An FDLE spokesperson, Gretl Plessinger, told Florida’s Voice that the investigation, which included “dozens” of employee testimonies, revealed a worrying incident of “brandishing a firearm inside an office” and other misconduct.

“This included sexual harassment [and] workplace discrimination,” Plessinger said. “Shane Desguin and Patricia Carpenter created workplace chaos, endangered the safety of other employees, and acted dishonestly and unprofessionally.”

The investigation said that Desguin created a hostile work environment for his executive assistant, whose name is confidential and will be referred to in this report as “EA,” who described witnessing inappropriate touching between Carpenter and Desguin on several occasions.

In one instance, Desguin allegedly pulled EA and Carpenter into his office and pulled out his firearm behind a closed door to explain “defensive tactics.”

He then purportedly pointed the firearm at Carpenter, showing “what to do” if a gun is pulled on you, and then motioned to begin pointing the firearm at EA – which she promptly denied, according to the investigation.

EA noted how Desguin’s actions made her feel “uncomfortable” and not want to come to work, adding how Desguin began taking time off work for Carpenter, and hoping to keep it a secret between he and EA.

The document also indicated inappropriate, romantic comments being made between Desguin and Carpenter on a regular basis.

One notable event occurred when EA viewed what she saw as an “inappropriate” email from Desguin regarding a approving an already-denied promotion for attorney Janine Robinson.

It said that Carpenter took the action of filing the pay increase for Robinson, even though it was denied by superiors, and Desguin did nothing to reverse the action.

EA had told investigators that she was worried she would lose her job if she spoke up about the actions between Desguin and Carpenter.

The investigation detailed how other personnel at FDLE noticed EA’s intense fear of Desguin whenever he got upset, going so far as hiding under another employee’s desk.

The document includes many witness accounts corroborating the inappropriate relationship and EA’s obvious strong fear of Desguin.

Aside from Carpenter’s and Desguin’s inappropriate relationship creating a hostile work environment, the investigation enumerated other conduct violations. For Desguin, it was a total of six.

Carpenter was found to have produced “substandard work” by misrepresenting FDLE’s financials to the governor’s office, which would have resulted in FDLE’s budget being called into question and receiving funds it did not need or deserve.

It found that Carpenter committed insubordination in approving the prior mentioned raise for an FDLE attorney, which was denied by DeSantis’ office, which Carpenter insisted was retaliation over public records disputes.

On top of those violations, the investigation said Carpenter’s misrepresentation of FDLE’s budget resulted in severe cost-cutting measures, and could have resulted in major personnel losses if not corrected. The document warned doing this would have “severely” hampered FDLE’s ability to function. This conduct violation was enumerated as “unprofessional / unbecoming conduct.”

The fifth violation on Carpenter’s part was violating “her own ability to make objective, fair and impartial decisions” and not holding herself “to the highest moral and intellectual standards” expected of her position via her relationship with Desguin, creating a “conflict of interest” and violating ethical standards.

“We are glad that our association with these bad actors has ended, considering the disturbing allegations that were substantiated after a thorough investigation,” the FDLE spokesperson said. “Our FDLE members embody our fundamental values of Service, Integrity, Respect and Quality. Shane Desguin and Patricia Carpenter do not.”