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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, FOURTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, IN AND FOR DUVAL COUNTY, FLORIDA CASE NO.

: DIVISION: FRANK DENTON, Plaintiff, vs. MAYOR ALVIN BROWN, in his official capacity, THE CITY OF JACKSONVILLE; and THE JACKSONVILLE POLICE AND FIRE PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES, Defendants. _________________________________________________/ DEFENDANTS, MAYOR ALVIN BROWN AND THE CITY OF JACKSONVILLES, MOTION FOR SANCTIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 57.105, FLORIDA STATUTES Defendants, Mayor Alvin Brown and the City of Jacksonville (collectively, the City), by and through undersigned counsel and pursuant to Section 57.105, Florida Statutes, and Rule 1.150, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, move for an order awarding the City reasonable attorneys fees and costs in connection with this case. Plaintiffs Complaint is frivolous in that it fails to articulate a factual or legal basis upon which this Court may grant Plaintiff any relief, for each of the following reasons. 1. The Complaint in this action seeks to invalidate an order in in Randall Wyse et al. 16-2013-CA-5799 CV-H

v. City of Jacksonville and Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Trustees, Case No. 3:13-cv121-J-34MCR (U. S. District Court, M.D. Fla.) (the Federal Litigation), in which the United States District Court referred that case to mediation. (Doc. 21 of the Federal Litigation).

2.

Plaintiff pleads material facts he knows to be untrue in that they are contradicted

by the exhibits to the Complaint; namely, the Joint Motion to Approve Mediation Settlement Agreement, the proposed Mediation Settlement Agreement, and the proposed legislation approving the terms of the Mediation Settlement Agreement (Compl. Exs. F, E and G, respectively). Each of these exhibits makes clear that the Mediation Settlement Agreement is only a recommendation by the parties and that it is subject to approval by the Jacksonville City Council and the Pension Fund Board of Trustees. Each of these bodies will meet in accordance with the Florida Sunshine Law. 3. Furthermore, Plaintiff is trying to obtain confidential information in violation of

Section 44.401 et seq., Florida Statutes (the Mediation Confidentiality and Privilege Act),1 and United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida Local Rule 9.07(b) (providing that [a]ll proceedings of the mediation conference, including statements made by any party, attorney, or other participant, are privileged in all respects). 4. Plaintiffs Complaint consists of two counts; count one alleges a violation of

Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, and count two alleges a violation of Section 447.605, Florida Statutes. Both counts allege the City violated provisions of Floridas Sunshine Law by engaging in court-ordered mediation as named parties to the Federal Litigation. Plaintiff and his attorneys knew or should have known, upon filing the Complaint, that these claims are not supported by applicable law or material facts. 5. In addition, Plaintiffs naming Mayor Brown as a separate defendant is both

unnecessary and duplicative, as the Mayor is not a proper party. Any action necessary to adopt the terms of the Mediation Settlement Agreement so as to bind the City cannot be taken by the
1

See, specifically, sections 4.405(1) (noting that all mediation communications shall be confidential) and 4.405(2) (describing a mediation partys privilege to refuse to testify and to prevent any other person from testifying in a subsequent proceeding regarding mediation communications).

Mayor independent of the City of Jacksonville City Council. The City and Mayor Brown are the same entity, and the Plaintiff knows or should know this fact. Naming Mayor Brown as a separate defendant is frivolous and only meant to sensationalize the meritless Complaint. 6. Plaintiff repeatedly misrepresents that the Mediation Settlement Agreement

constituted official action. But official action can only be accomplished by final decision makers, and the Agreement itself states that it is not binding unless it is approved by final decision making bodies i.e., the Jacksonville City Council and the Pension Fund Board. 7. Plaintiff mischaracterizes the mediation proceedings as collective bargaining in

an attempt to divest the federal court of jurisdiction. The Federal Litigation concerns whether a thirty-year contract between the City and the Pension Fund Board is valid and whether the City can force unions to negotiate certain terms incorporated in the contract. Plaintiffs Complaint not only asks this Court to answer the same questions, but also recommends the answers to same. That is, Plaintiff seeks a pronouncement that the 30-year contract is invalid and its terms must be negotiated in the sunshine. Put differently, the Complaint merely is a collateral attack on the

federal lawsuit and the federal courts authority to order mediation. 8. Lastly, it is obvious that Plaintiffs claims are not ripe. The Mediation Sett lement

Agreement is tentative. It merely calls for signatories to recommend its approval to City Council and the Pension Fund both of which are subject to the Sunshine Law. 9. By letter dated June 18, 2013, Plaintiff was informed that the City would seek

attorneys fees and costs pursuant to Section 57.105, Florida Statutes, in the event the Complaint was not withdrawn. Plaintiff failed to do so within the statutes safe harbor period. 10. The City has incurred and shall continue to incur attorneys fees in defending

against this frivolous and unduly disruptive lawsuit and is entitled to recover its fees pursuant to

Section 57.105(1). See Grob v. Bieuluch, 912 So. 2d 666 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (affirming trial courts order granting attorneys fees pursuant to Section 57.105 where there were no justifiable issues of fact or law); Quinlivan v. United Business Investments, Inc., 420 So. 2d 329, 330 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982) (affirming fees where party opponent knew facts harmful to its claims, and stating [t]here was a complete absence of a justiciable issue, plaintiff knew it, and the applicable statute mandates that attorney fees be assessed against it). This Court has inherent authority and broad discretion to impose sanctions on litigants for their conduct before the court. Riley v. Associates Home Equity Services, Inc., 850 So. 2d 661, 663 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003). WHEREFORE, the City respectfully requests that this Court enter an order granting this motion, awarding the City its attorneys fees incurred in defending this action, and granting any other relief as the Court deems necessary and appropriate. Respectfully submitted this ____ day of July, 2013,

Michael K. Grogan Florida Bar No. 0218928 mgrogan@anblaw.com Tracey Kort Parde Florida Bar No. 0022834 kparde@anblaw.com Allen, Norton & Blue, P.A. 421 West Church Street Suite 430 Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Counsel for Defendants, the Hon. Alvin Brown and the City of Jacksonville and

OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL Carol Mirando Assistant General Counsel Florida Bar No. 069019 David J. DAgata Assistant General Counsel Florida Bar No. 663891 Craig D. Feiser Assistant General Counsel Florida Bar No. 164593 117 West Duval Street, Suite 480 Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Telephone (904) 630-1837 Facsimile (904) 630-1316 Primary E-mail: CMirando@coj.net Secondary E-mail: JeanH@coj.net Primary E-mail: Dagata@coj.net Secondary E-mail: Garelick@coj.net Primary E-mail: CFeiser@coj.net Secondary E-mail: LCenac@coj.net Co-Counsel for Defendants, the Hon. Alvin Brown and the City of Jacksonville

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on July ___, 2013, a true and correct copy of the foregoing was filed with the Clerk of Court via the Florida Courts eFiling Portal and served via electronic and United States Mail to: George D. Gabel, Jr., Esq. Timothy J. Conner Ziggy Williamson Holland & Knight, LLP 50 North Laura Street, Suite 3900 Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Tel: 904-353-2000 Fax: 904-358-1872 george.gabel@hklaw.com Attorneys for Plaintiff 5

Robert Klausner, Esq. Klausner, Kaufman, Jensen & Levinson 10059 Northwest First Court Plantation, Florida 33324 Tel: 954-916-1202 Fax: 954-916-1232 bob@robertdklausner.com Attorney for Defendant Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Board of Trustees

_____________________________ Attorney

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