A legal saga stemming from a water quality project saw Tom Van Lent briefly jailed in a case brought by allies of DeSantis<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An environmental scientist briefly jailed in what he called a \u201cpolitical prosecution\u201d brought by allies of Florida\u2019s rightwing Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, now alleges new evidence shows his jail sentence stemmed from fraudulent allegations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tom Van Lent\u2019s claim represents the latest twist in a three-year legal saga<\/a> ignited by a disagreement over a proposed restoration project that aimed to address Florida\u2019s recurrent red tides and toxic algal blooms by helping restore the environment of the vast Everglades wetlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Lent, widely seen as one of the top Everglades scientists in the US, is a former Everglades Foundation worker who posted a tweet seen as critical of the foundation. He and his attorney say the foundation \u2013 a large non-profit with friendly ties to state Republican leadership \u2013 then built a case against him on a claim that Van Lent had violated an employment contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Lent had publicly criticized the DeSantis-backed project when he left the foundation in 2022 by saying his new employer would \u201cput facts over politics\u201d. Soon after, the foundation sued<\/a>, alleging Van Lent had violated the employment contract by keeping non-profit \u201ctrade secrets\u201d. The case led to Van Lent being jailed for 10 days and facing $177,000 in legal costs in June when a judge found him in contempt of court for not returning some electronic material and documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Van Lent\u2019s attorney, Michael Rayboun, now alleges the employment contract does not exist, and accused the foundation of \u201cfraud\u201d because it claimed under oath that a contract was signed. Van Lent and Rayboun want the lawsuit reopened and the Everglades Foundation to be held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe foundation has committed fraud by alleging the existence of a contract that does not exist,\u201d Rayboun said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The foundation denies the allegation and is opposing a motion to reopen the lawsuit, court documents show. \u201cThey want to chill his speech and chill others from saying how the foundation holds hands with Florida\u2019s version of a dictator,\u201d Rayboun said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The foundation in a statement to the Guardian said an employee handbook that stipulated the terms was a legally binding contract. In a response filed with the court, the foundation called the motion to reopen the case \u201cfrivolous\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe foundation emphatically opposes the motion because there is no basis in fact or law to reopen this case,\u201d it states. The foundation noted that the lawsuit was settled in 2022, and Van Lent agreed to the terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The case\u2019s roots reach back to the early 2000s, when initial plans called for an approximately $4bn project to address the algal blooms that for decades had threatened the state\u2019s drinking water and plagued its beaches with a deathly stench. The blooms have caused billions of dollars in damage to the region\u2019s vast tourism economy, officials estimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposed solution called for a 60,000-acre water storage reservoir<\/a> and engineered marshes to cleanse water that would be built south of the vast Lake Okeechobee in Florida\u2019s interior. But the plan required the state to purchase or use eminent domain to take land owned by the nation\u2019s largest sugar companies, which are politically connected and opposed<\/a> any land sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2017, Florida Republican leadership presented a \u201ccompromise\u201d that whittled down the project to 10,000 acres, which Van Lent and other scientists have argued would not be effective and would not meet federal rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facing pressure from both sides, state leadership pushed the Everglades Foundation to accept the compromise plan, which DeSantis called the \u201ccrown jewel\u201d of Everglades restorations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Lent said his leaving tweet incensed the Everglades Foundation and its political allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Everglades Foundation CEO, Eric Eikenberg, worked with DeSantis<\/a> on the project while DeSantis was in the Florida legislature, then served on DeSantis\u2019s 2018 transition team. He also served as chief of staff for the then governor, Charlie Crist. Meanwhile, the Everglades Foundation founder, Paul Tudor Jones, donated<\/a> $250,000 to a 2018 DeSantis political action committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n