The owners of a Little Havana hot spot illegally targeted by a Miami city commissioner after they supported his political opponent are telling a federal judge the "political retaliation" continues.
The owners of Ball & Chain – who last year won a $63 million judgment against commissioner Joe Carollo in a civil rights lawsuit – claim Carollo and the city continue to falsely accuse them of crimes, according to a notice they filed with the U.S. District Court judge who oversaw the case.
Carollo is questioning the legality of the millions in COVID relief money obtained by the owners’ many businesses.
The bar owners say the city “is actively conducting a dragnet sham investigation to manufacture false evidence” by hiring a private investigator to question current and former employees about their work experiences during the pandemic.
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They say in the notice filed with the court last week that it’s “a continuation of a campaign to punish (them) for speaking out against the corruption and misconduct that pervades City Hall.”
The court filing says Carollo instructed a Miami police captain “to repeat the same false allegations of PPP fraud to a federal agency," something Carollo denied in an interview.
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Carollo said the city “has every right” to investigate the owners’ businesses because they are suing the city and several employees in two other pending federal lawsuits. “The city is doing what it has to to protect itself,” Carollo said.
For its part, the city tells NBC 6 the owners – Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla – “are the ones harassing city employees and officials through their vexatious and multiple lawsuits, and not the other way around.”
The city’s statement added: “The City’s efforts to interview persons listed as witnesses were a legitimate part of the City’s right to defend itself from the false and salacious allegations made against it. Every party has a right to investigate facts and witnesses,” including the finances of those suing the city. “The City made every effort to interview only former employees, so any accusations of ‘retaliation’ are false, just like their previous ones.”
But Jeff Gutchess, attorney for the bar owners, said how much the businesses received in pandemic relief funds is irrelevant to any damages they may be awarded in the pending lawsuits.
The notice was filed as they await Judge Rodney Smith’s decision on whether to issue an injunction to protect them “from further illegal retaliation,” the filing states. They want the judge to appoint a magistrate to oversee any actions the city takes involving the bar owners’ companies to assure they are not done in violation of their constitutional rights.
