Samatha Whitfield, the former human resources manager for Flagler County government, is suing the county in a whistleblower action, claiming she was terminated last summer in retaliation for reporting violations of rules and misconduct by one of her colleagues, to which the county administration responded with indifference.
Whitfield’s is the third such lawsuit filed against the county in a year and a half. Sonya Graves, the former housing and human services manager, sued on two counts of discrimination in May 2023 after she said she was “constructively discharged” two months after being hired. The county says she resigned. Faith al-Khatib, the county’s long-time and celebrated engineer, sued for wrongful termination and discrimination last May. The county filed a motion to dismiss the suit. All former employees are represented by Marie Mattox, a Tallahassee labor attorney.
“Despite her stellar work performance during her employment” with the county, the suit states, Whitfield “was subjected to disparate treatment, different terms and conditions of employment, and held to a different standard because she reported Defendant’s unlawful employment activities and was subject to retaliation thereafter.”
After service in the military and employment at the Sheriff’s Office, Whitfield started work at the county’s HR department in August 2019. She was promoted to manager in March 2024. The same month she was offered a risk manager job at higher pay with another local government. Flagler County countered with an offer to match the salary, which Whitfield accepted.
Whitfield had been married to Timothy Whitfield, a former teacher at Flagler Palm Coast High School who was forced to resign after revelations of an inappropriate relationship with a student and of dishonesty on his job application with the district. (See: “FPC Teacher Forced Out: He’d Paid Student $5,569, Had Relationship With Her, and Lied on Job Application.”) The Whitfields divorced in 2021, though contentious court proceedings continued.
The same month that Samantha Whitfield had agreed to stay with Flagler County, she says Timothy Whitfield pursued a charge of stalking against her when he discovered a GPS tracking tile in his car. The charge was actually filed the previous October and dismissed in March, when the State Attorney’s Office itself filed a charge of installing a tracking device against Samantha, a second degree misdemeanor. Two weeks ago Whitfield signed a deferred prosecution agreement requiring a behavior modification course and 25 hours of community service. If she abides by the agreement’s terms for 12 monts–a form of probation–the charge will be dropped and her record could potentially be expunged.
But numerous issues developed at work after the charges were filed, according to Samantha Whitfield’s lawsuit even though the county administration ad been supportive and understanding during her divorce, assuring her that the charges would not impact her employment. “They reiterated that she had nothing to worry about in two separate conversations,” the lawsuit states in reference to Pamela Wu, then the human resources director, and Jorge Salinas, the deputy county administrator then and now. Wu resigned in August.
Whitfield claims that Anita Stoker, another employee in her division began to “bully and harass” her after her promotion, making references to her disability pay–Whitfield has a disability–and her court case and claiming she could rescind her raise. Several anonymous public record requests were filed regarding Whitfield’s records. County Administrator Heidi Petito and Salinas continued to support her.
After Whitfield became the acting manager (Wu having gone on family leave), Whitfield “engaged in protected whistleblower activity” to report to Petito and Salinas that Stoker was “improperly accessing confidential information” about employees, and again did so when Wu returned, but nothing was done. Whitfield informed Wu that she could not take the hostile atmosphere at work and would resign. County Attorney Al Hadeed tried to dissuade her, according to the lawsuit’s narrative.
“In July 2024, the County Commissioners informed [Petito] that [Whitfield]’s situation was purportedly drawing too much attention and that action was needed,” the lawsuit states, without naming the county commissioners or explaining where the commissioners had made such claims. They’d not done it at commission meetings, the only place where they may discuss ongoing matters of government they’re involved in. “Notably, County Commissioners are prohibited from involving themselves in personnel matters.”
On July 17, Petito informed Whitfield that “her resignation would be honored and that she was required to leave. No investigation into the reported bullying or hostile work environment was conducted, despite prior reassurances” to Whitfield. Instead of addressing the problems, the county “chose to terminate” Whitfield, the lawsuit states, “silencing her complaints and failing to investigate her allegations.”
In a July 18 interview with FlaglerLive, Petito said Whitfield had tendered her resignation on July 1, and that July 19 would be her last day. “She just said that she was moving in a different direction with her life and was pursuing a job in the private sector,” Petito said.
Petito was asked if Whitfield had gotten an offer in Ormond Beach that had been rescinded, causing Whitfield to ask to stay with the county. “I don’t know anything about that,” Petito said.
“Samantha has offered to stay after her completion of her job to work a few hours here and there just to help the transition of the new person,” Salinas said. Meanwhile, the county had advertised the position and gotten 34 applicants. “Since we had 34 applicants, we’re going to be going and doing that hiring process fairly quickly here.”
“There’s not really a need for her to stay on. We had already advertised her position. We have 34 applicants that closed yesterday,” Petito said in the July 18 interview. “So we’re going start the interviews sometime next week.”
By then Wu had submitted her own resignation but was “still on the county’s books till the end of August.” August 30 was to be her last day. What led to Wu’s resignation? “I don’t know. She just decided to resign,” Petito said. “For us it kind of caught us by surprise. I don’t know what led her to want to leave. I can only assume that she’s moving in a different path. Maybe she found a different job somewhere. She doesn’t live in our community. Maybe she found something closer to home.”
Petito was asked specifically if there had been any internal county investigations of the human resources department. “We’re not investigating anything,” the county administrator said. “We have a great team in human resources. The staff that we have is more than capable. They do a great job for Flagler County employees. They do a great job for our organization.”
“Sam,” Petito continued, “had expressed to me a desire to not work in the public sector, to work in the private sector, and that’s her prerogative. She had previously worked at the sheriff’s office, she previously did a career in the military. With that she retired from the military, and she just, I think, was looking for an opportunity to go to the private sector. It’s unfortunate because I think they contributed to the organization.”
John says
Sounds like Flagler County has some discrimination going on. I am glad those involved hired an attorney.
Villein says
People sure keep saying a lot of the same things about working for the County. I assume exit interviews were conducted and are public record?
Been there, done that says
I was subjected to bullying and an extremely hostile work environment at Halifax Hospital. It was so bad I had to take FMLA for 6 weeks and seek counseling as I dreaded going into a den of women vipers every day. Plus the “supervisor” / manager of the department (high school education only and a DEI hire) had already announced to the whole department that she was going to get me fired, and then proceeded to work on her plan. It was the absolute worst I’ve ever endured in a workplace setting. HR did nothing . . . until I threatened an EEOC lawsuit for hostile work environment. End of story was that the woman supervisor ended up getting fired after another 18 months of hell, but only after she decided she didn’t like one of the other women in the department, and then HR realized they had a huge issue, and that was after the Medicare fraud lawsuit so Halifax couldn’t afford more bad PR.
Bottom line is that there’s nothing worse than an office full of vicious women, and vicious women in an office environment isn’t isolated. In fact, it’s quite the norm. Not sure why women are so catty and vicious towards each other, but it’s common.
All the above being stated, from the story that was published last year, Whitfield had attached a tracking device to her ex-husband’s vehicle. So she was stalking. Not sure she would be the best person for an HR position at the Flagler County level.
Then again, I’m hugely NOT a fan of Heidi Petitio because she had only a high school education when she was GIVEN the job as county manager. But her husband at the time was in the fire department. She’s probably managed to eke out some sort of online college degree by now. I have no use for anyone at the county level. Why is anyone with just a high school education GIVEN a job as county manager? Now you understand why things are such a mess, not only county but on the city levels as well.
Actually well-educated people with an actual REAL degree (not fake) don’t stand a chance getting hired by the City of Palm Coast OR Flagler County. Too intimidating to the people in charge with just high school educations. It would show them up to be as unqualified as they actually are.
Might want to take a serious look at why there are THREE pending lawsuits against the county.
Biden says
Sounds like the county has a problem and lacks quality leadership to fix the issues
Tired of it says
Somehow your diatribe makes me think you were the problem, not all the “vicious” “DEI” hires. In my long career, with one of the top major internstionasl companies in the world, I often found that a degree was not the only measure of someone’s competence. Ther ability to get along with others was an important quality, which you seem to lack.
Ryan Andrew Franks says
Anita’s alleged actions are nothing short of shocking—a nightmare workplace come to life. Bullying, cruel harassment, and a blatant violation of privacy aren’t just rumors; they’re serious accusations. Imagine an employee going out of her way to target a coworker’s disability pay, dragging private court matters into the office just to humiliate her. This is not just “office drama”—this is pure, calculated malice. Even worse, Anita is reportedly digging through confidential employee records like her own personal weapon stash, allegedly using private information to intimidate anyone who steps out of line.
And while playing the victim herself, she reportedly relies on certain tactics, flashing long legs and flaunting enhancements in a bid to win sympathy and influence. It’s disturbing to see this manipulation go unchecked, and it’s baffling that leadership hasn’t stepped in.
Where is Flagler County’s leadership in all of this? Silent. Complacent. They let this toxic behavior grow, ignoring the warning signs and allowing a culture of abuse to fester. Whitfield’s requests for help supposedly went unanswered while leadership turned a blind eye, choosing instead to protect a broken system. Where was Heidi and her Friday night drinking buddies while all this was happening? Back home, folks like this would’ve been out on their heads long ago, but here, it seems like they’re protected at every turn.
This isn’t just neglect—it’s betrayal. It’s clear that this county’s leadership is more interested in protecting their own than in creating a safe environment for employees. Flagler County residents have a right to know just how deep this rot goes. How many careers have been damaged to keep these power-hungry bullies in place? It’s time for these ugly truths to come out and for the people responsible to be held accountable. This community deserves better.
Timmy G. Slone says
Here we go again, right? The Petito clan’s stirring up another mess, and somehow, they just keep getting away with it. Let’s lay it out straight: our Fire Chief was finally asked to take a hike after who-knows-how-many complaints, but what do they do next? Put his wife Heidi in charge! You gotta wonder—what kind of pull do the Petitos have around here? And for real, how is Anita still clinging on? She’s just as wrapped up in this as the Petitos, yet these folks somehow keep pulling the strings behind the scenes, running this county like it’s their own little show.
Then there’s Wu, who’s been trying to do her job, always dealing with this revolving door of County Managers or whatever bigwigs they got parked in those corner offices. All the while, these shady folks hold on to their power and keep shoving out the good ones. I mean, how many decent employees have jumped ship because of this corruption circus?
Let’s circle back to Anita for a second. In what universe is it okay for someone in HR to tamper with personnel records? Whose files hasn’t she dipped her fingers in? There’s probably a whole list of “backdoor” deals she’s played a part in. And believe me, it goes deeper than that. People all over the county know the stories, the allegations. A veteran, who probably served this country half her life, calls it out, and still, these folks hang on. Heidi, seriously, you’ve got a lot to answer for. And Anita, you’re not off the hook either. Plenty of us know your dirty little secrets, and if they don’t already, they will soon.
JimboXYZ says
Uggghhhh this is rich, lawsuit coming from a HR Specialist howling about the culture(s) they create for a revolving door of employment at the County offices. Most of the time they are the one’s silently covert on the coup’s that they pull off. If anyone has had a single/several employers, employees come & go, many forced out and they are most often aligning themselves politically in the office politics. I don’t doubt the Flagler County & City of Palm Coast Governments aren’t any different from any other employer. And there are always going to be those conflicting performance appraisals & reviews. Stellar ? Nobody is irreplaceable stellar, beyond the spin. Take Biden, he has some duped into believing the last 3+ years is top 15 POTUS in American History. Gotta be a legend in their own mind(s). The way the system works, take your stint with any employer & move on to the next crappy job. Maybe get a raise from being essentially fired for the next successor to the job. That’s a working career in a nutshell, stringing together job roles for a resume. Remember that it’s always Nepotism, Cronyism, DEI&B (as the legal discrimination of mankind) & then there are those that are brought in for a role that don’t fit the other categories of relatively protected classifications. A corporation or Government will always have a roster shakeup, just like a sports team changes coaches & players. Works that way with even the elected ones, only it’s votes that push out a regime instead of HR. They’ll be back for another election, here or somewhere else. From the read, the last 5 years has really been life in Flagler County bouncing from one employer to another ? The twists are her dysfunctional marriage involving the Flagler County School ex-husband. This suit need to be tossed out for wasting everyone’s time & resources. “We have to understand how we got here” – Kamala Harris wisdom moment(s). I think she knew what she was getting herself into when she left FCSO for government of Flagler County ? One really has to look themselves honestly in the AM in that bathroom mirror. Scheming to get ahead is half the fun of being labor. Empire building, they inevitably crumble for the foundation of sand, the smoke & mirrors that they are built on, nothing lasts forever.
Seenoevilhearnoevilspeaknoevil says
Obviously you have never worked in a corrupt, undermined job before. Or maybe you have and you are the problem. Or is this Stoker? So you say, oh well, tough luck with all the bullying, lying and unethical practices going on. Then blame the ones trying to keep it clean. I smell a huge lawsuit (federal? State?) coming on against Flagler County Commissioners, etc.
Erod says
I’m being told it one big CAT FIGHT in Petito Land. But this is what happens when you hire friends and relatives.
TIRED OF EXCUSES says
PAMELA WU DID NOT RESIGN SHE WAS LET GO JUST LIKE IN PALM COAST BUT NO ONE KNOWS WHY. THE OFFICES UP STAIR IS LIKE A BIG SOAP OPERA, IF SOMEONE CAUSES RIPPLES THEN THEY FIND A WAY TO LET YOU GO OR CREATE NEW POSITIONS FOR BUDDIES
Over the chaos says
Hahah this is so comical as an outsider…. you mean to tell me the one with an actual criminal record is crying wolf? This is all character representation and Samantha looks dumb. You threatened to leave… leave… beg to come back…. leave… now sue??? 25k in raises for no damn reason but now you cry PTSD? Get out of here. And lets not forget to mention that the county paid your boyfriend over $10k to “motivationally speak” no one talks about that nepotism and back door dealing. Wonder how that deal was signed off on.