TALLAHASSEE — Nothing is more valuable to the lobbyists who walk the halls of the Florida Capitol than the list of clients who pay them to influence state lawmakers.
Last week the scramble over clients spilled over into a Leon County courtroom, where charges and countercharges are flying.
On one side is Don Yaeger, sports writer/author-turned lobbyist. He says he fired two employees at 180 Consulting because he caught them trying to run off with some of the firm's clients.
On the other side are insurance lobbyist Lisa Miller, a former associate in Yaeger's firm, and Meghan Kelly, who was Miller's assistant. Miller says they left the firm after learning Yaeger had been reading their e-mail.
Yaeger says he started monitoring their e-mail after a couple of clients told him Miller was about to start her own business and take some of them with her.
Miller, a former chief of staff for the Florida Department of Financial Services, says she was the only one at the firm with insurance expertise and ready to strike out on her own. She described the separation as "amicable."
State lobbying records indicate about a half-dozen clients who once listed Yaeger as their lobbyist now list Miller.
Since leaving Yaeger, both women say they discovered that Yaeger videotaped their exit interviews. It is a felony in Florida to tape record conversations without the consent of all parties.
Miller said Yaeger told her he was taping the conversation but she had no idea he was making a video. Kelly says she did not know anything about a video or audio recording.
Yaeger says he used a visible television camera mounted on a tripod in a corner of his office. He says he overheard Miller warn Kelly about the taping system, but both women deny the exchange and both say they didn't see a camera in the room.
Kyle Conner, multimedia producer for Yaeger's firm, says Miller came to his office after the video was made, asked for a copy of the DVD and waited while he made it. Steve Andrews, a Tallahassee lawyer who represents Kelly, has filed a lawsuit that seeks to protect the videotapes from being destroyed and has filed a formal complaint with State Attorney Willie Meggs.
Yaeger said the dispute got serious after he discovered that Kelly was collecting unemployment insurance payments after she had gone to work for Miller at the new lobbying firm, Lisa Miller & Associates. It is a felony to collect unemployment checks while collecting a paycheck.
Yaeger filed a formal complaint with state unemployment officials saying Kelly was fired for misconduct connected to her work and should not have been eligible for unemployment compensation.
Kelly said she collected unemployment checks for 10 weeks while she was hunting for a job and can document the search. She now works for Miller as chief finance officer.
Lucy Morgan can be reached at lmorgan@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
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