Pictured above: Sophia Wisniewska contends her “employability and professional standing” were destroyed by her ouster.
Courtesy of Sophia Wisniewska
By Crow’s Nest Staff
As former Regional Chancellor Sophia Wisniewska continues to press a lawsuit against the USF system, a key part of the administration’s defense remains the Florida Public Records Law.
In an amended complaint filed Dec. 12 in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Wisniewska says she resigned in September 2017 after then-President Judy Genshaft agreed to withdraw the draft of an explosive letter firing Wisniewska for the way she handled preparations for Hurricane Irma.
Under that agreement, Wisniewksa contends, Genshaft assured her that the termination letter would “not be executed or placed in her personnel file,” where it would be subject to disclosure under Chapter 119 of the Florida Statutes – the Public Records Law.
But the letter, which harshly criticized Wisniewska, was released to the news media – a move that Wisniewska says “disparaged” her reputation and destroyed her “employability and professional standing.”
In its Feb. 4 response to the amended complaint, Genshaft and the university contend that Wisniewska’s allegations of breach of contract and breach of good faith “fail because they rely on an agreement which could not be performed without violating a statutory provision” – the Public Records Law.
“When a contract or agreement, express or implied, is tainted with the vice of such illegality, no alleged right founded upon the contract or agreement can be enforced in a court of justice,” Genshaft and the university contend.
As the lawsuit, originally filed in April 2019, continues to ping-pong with filings from both sides, the university has repeatedly stressed that Wisniewska waived her right to sue when she signed the voluntary resignation agreement.
The university also says that the resignation agreement specifies that the agreement and other records related to Wisniewska’s employment “may be subject to Chapter 119.” Releasing them to the public “shall not be deemed a violation” of the terms of the agreement, the agreement says.
Wisniewska’s lawsuit accuses the USF system and Genshaft of breach of contract, breach of “the covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” defamation and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
The lawsuit seeks damages exceeding $15,000, which is standard language in a civil lawsuit in Florida circuit court.
Last October, Circuit Judge Ralph C. Stoddard dismissed parts of Wisniewska’s lawsuit but ruled that she could file an amended complaint.
That led to the second amended complaint filed Dec. 12.
