{"id":60316,"date":"2024-12-23T22:13:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T03:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=60316"},"modified":"2024-12-23T22:14:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T03:14:31","slug":"filthy-secrets-floridas-voice-ceo-brendon-leslie-accused-of-workplace-sexual-harassment-intimidation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2024\/12\/filthy-secrets-floridas-voice-ceo-brendon-leslie-accused-of-workplace-sexual-harassment-intimidation\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Filthy Secrets&#8217;: Florida&#8217;s Voice CEO Brendon Leslie Accused of Workplace Sexual Harassment, Intimidation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&#8216;He thinks he walks on water, but he will drown&#8217;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/2024\/12\/filthy-secrets-floridas-voice-ceo-brendon-leslie-accused-of-workplace-sexual-harassment-intimidation\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHW8tZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbdODNOZHK0yH2ZRmO5vkOTn3mWDyCpdvVhLEAXLLt7r9qww-g9SbLMTLA_aem_9ZW9fa-m487JyumoUsMDvA#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/2024\/12\/filthy-secrets-floridas-voice-ceo-brendon-leslie-accused-of-workplace-sexual-harassment-intimidation\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHW8tZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbdODNOZHK0yH2ZRmO5vkOTn3mWDyCpdvVhLEAXLLt7r9qww-g9SbLMTLA_aem_9ZW9fa-m487JyumoUsMDvA#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/2024\/12\/filthy-secrets-floridas-voice-ceo-brendon-leslie-accused-of-workplace-sexual-harassment-intimidation\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawHW8tZleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbdODNOZHK0yH2ZRmO5vkOTn3mWDyCpdvVhLEAXLLt7r9qww-g9SbLMTLA_aem_9ZW9fa-m487JyumoUsMDvA#\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/api.whatsapp.com\/send?text=%27Filthy%20Secrets%27%3A%20Florida%27s%20Voice%20CEO%20Brendon%20Leslie%20Accused%20of%20Workplace%20Sexual%20Harassment%2C%20Intimidation%20https%3A%2F%2Ffloridianpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D68880\"><\/a><a href=\"mailto:?subject=%27Filthy%20Secrets%27%3A%20Florida%27s%20Voice%20CEO%20Brendon%20Leslie%20Accused%20of%20Workplace%20Sexual%20Harassment%2C%20Intimidation&amp;body=https%3A%2F%2Ffloridianpress.com%2F%3Fp%3D68880\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Floridas-Voice-CEO-Brendon-Leslie.avif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-60317\" style=\"width:556px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Floridas-Voice-CEO-Brendon-Leslie.avif 960w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Floridas-Voice-CEO-Brendon-Leslie-300x169.avif 300w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Floridas-Voice-CEO-Brendon-Leslie-768x432.avif 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Brendon Leslie, CEO of the right-wing&nbsp;<em>Florida\u2019s Voice<\/em>, has been accused of workplace sexual harassment, abuse, and intimidation by a former employee of the online publication, according to a 154-page police report filed last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kaitlyn Castner, the publication\u2019s former social media manager, is also seeking a restraining order against Leslie and&nbsp;<em>Florida\u2019s Voice&nbsp;<\/em>reporters Michelle Vecerina and Amber Jo Cooper for allegedly harassing Castner after she left her post in November.&nbsp;In her sworn statement, Castner alleges that Leslie, who she says has a history of &#8220;violent and aggressive&#8221; behavior, showed up to her home &#8220;uninvited&#8221; and harassed her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_68999\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-21-at-8.19.50-AM.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-68999\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brendon Leslie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Castner included a slew of text messages, some dating back two years, involving her, Leslie, Vecerina, Cooper, and the organization\u2019s former CEO Karoline Pennington in her complaint filed last Thursday with the Cape Coral Police Department.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The publication&#8217;s news director, Anita Padilla, who is also mentioned in the police report,&nbsp; told&nbsp;<em>The Floridian<\/em>&nbsp;in a written statement that she would not tolerate, has not witnessed, and was not aware of &#8220;any kind of sexual harassment&#8221; at&nbsp;<em>Florida&#8217;s Voice.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;As somebody who\u2019s worked in television media in New York City and in Chicago for nearly 3 decades, I can tell you I would never tolerate sexual harassment. If someone ever came to me and told me that they were being sexually harassed,..man or woman I would immediately address that,&#8221; said Padilla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the messages and Castner\u2019s claims portray a toxic workplace at&nbsp;<em>Florida\u2019s Voice<\/em>, where the 31-year-old Leslie allegedly flirted with and preyed upon attractive female employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His behavior was allegedly so inappropriate that the website&#8217;s former CEO, Karoline Pennington, went as far as to suggest to Leslie that they only hire men or \u201cugly girl\u201d interns after a reported affair between Leslie and a 20-year-old intern. Castner said the intern was later driven to buy an emergency contraception pill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In another message, Leslie told Castner she was on \u201cbrendon lotion duty.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her complaint, Castner claims that Leslie subjected her to months of sexual harassment and \u201cabused\u201d reporter Vecerina during a four-day business trip to Key West in January, which Vecerina allegedly recorded, but has since denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c[Leslie] thinks he walks on water, but he\u2019ll drown,\u201d Vecerina texted Castner last month. \u201cTruth always comes out, fucker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018<strong>Leather Pants\u2019, Castner\u2019s \u2018Fan Boy,\u2019 and\u2026 &#8216;Lotion Duty\u2019?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Castner, 32, claims that Leslie\u2019s inappropriate behavior began days before she was hired on Sep. 19, 2023, and has since left her with &#8220;fears and concerns&#8221; for her safety after she stopped working at&nbsp;<em>Florida&#8217;s Voice,&nbsp;<\/em>the report says. After working for the website for just over a year, she left her post on Nov. 1 because Leslie claimed she quit\u2014she says she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Text messages show Leslie making sexually suggestive comments almost immediately, beginning with him dubbing himself a \u201ckaitlyn fan boy\u201d excited for her to \u201cbe mine,\u201d to him eventually claiming that other workers believed he and Castner were \u201cfucking.\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.59.27-PM.png\">CLICK IMAGE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_69007\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-22-at-2.07.08-PM-1.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-69007\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brendon Leslie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGold star to my favorite princess surviving her first day,\u201d Leslie texted. \u201cWas just thinking of you..I\u2019m your biggest fan whatever you need lol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same day, he revealed, &#8220;I am the biggest kaitlyn fan boy. I don\u2019t shut up about you. And I\u2019m never like that. Point being, have all the confidence in the world, because I have it in you. The only person you need to impress is me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other messages in the report include him telling Castner that she is on \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-6.15.59-PM.png\">brendon lotion duty<\/a>\u201d and asking if she can call him \u201cspecial.&#8221; Another notes that Castner\u2019s \u201cleather pants\u201d improve his well-being, writing, \u201cMy life is better when i get to see you and your leather pants\u2026It\u2019s probably why my body is stressed.\u201d Leslie also referred to Castner as &#8220;my girl.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_68973\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.59.01-PM.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-68973\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brendon Leslie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Current&nbsp;<em>Florida\u2019s Voice<\/em>&nbsp;reporter Amber Jo Cooper, identified as Amber Arandas in the report and whom Leslie agreed was becoming a &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-6.13.07-PM.png\">liability<\/a>,&#8221; coached Castner on how to handle Leslie weeks before Castner left her post, telling her that she needed to set a \u201cboundary\u201d with Leslie. Arandas also appeared&nbsp;to accuse Leslie of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-23-at-7.03.13-AM.png\">calling the police<\/a>&nbsp;on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe is using you as his girlfriend,\u201d wrote Arandas, 32, in a text message. \u201cDon\u2019t say yes anymore\u2026Don\u2019t quit\u2026Just set [a] boundary Like i did :(.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not fun but u need to i love u u can\u2019t be used as his [girlfriend] anymore lol,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a text message to&nbsp;<em>The Floridian<\/em>, Arandas says she has &#8220;nothing but good things to say&#8221; about Leslie and&nbsp;<em>Florida&#8217;s Voice,&nbsp;<\/em>and is &#8220;not open to discussing the lies swirling around.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_69005\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-22-at-2.07.22-PM.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-69005\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brendon Leslie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In October 2023, Leslie ventured a text to Castner at 10:32 p.m., writing, \u201cEveryone thinks you and i are fucking by the way. Just found that out.\u201d Castner, who is engaged, told Leslie that this made her \u201cuncomfortable\u201d and reported his comments to then-Chief News Editor, Lydia Nusbaum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nusbaum, Leslie\u2019s then-assistant Leah Leonard, and Leslie all apologized, but Castner would later learn that she was not the first employee Leslie had tried to come on to, the report says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>An Internal Affair, an NDA, and the Morning After Pill<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the summer of 2022, Leslie allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with 20-year-old intern Jaden Zeller prompting a confidentiality agreement to be drafted and Zeller\u2019s termination from her post, the police report says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former CEO Pennington, the publication\u2019s first intern in January 2021 who rapidly rose to the chieftain position at just 19 years old before she says she was pushed out in February 2023, confirmed the relationship to&nbsp;<em>The Floridian<\/em>&nbsp;in a telephone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She noted that while Leslie never made any \u201cweird or creepy\u201d moves toward her, she drafted the non-disclosure agreement between Zeller and Leslie as soon as she found out about the affair on July 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen there was a relationship with an intern that I found out about a month after the fact, I think that was the start of the end of me working for Florida\u2019s Voice,\u201d Pennington, 22, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_68965\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-8.59.23-PM.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-68965\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brendon Leslie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In text messages between Pennington and Leslie documented in the report, Pennington promised to \u201cnot breathe a word\u201d of the relationship but \u201canything beyond speaking to one another that has transpired during her internship can\u2019t be hidden from me.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leslie later responded, \u201cWelp. Prepare to murd[e]r me,\u201d before indicating he would have Zeller send the \u201ccontract\u201d to Pennington\u2014who confirmed that the NDA was signed and that she still has it.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-9.25.50-PM.png\"><strong>CLICK IMAGE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agreement was drafted and the intern was fired. A week later, Pennington told Leslie via text that the company should exclusively hire male or \u201cugly girl\u201d interns from that point on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t not hire pretty girls LOL,\u201d Leslie said, prompting Pennington to remind him that interns should be kept \u201cvery arms length.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When discussing the affair with&nbsp;<em>The Floridian,&nbsp;<\/em>Pennington called it \u201cappalling,\u201d alleging that Leslie couldn\u2019t \u201clook me in the eye for like two to three weeks after that because he knew what he was doing was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She then confirmed another allegation made by Castner in the police report: Leslie\u2019s former assistant, 23-year-old Leah Leonard, took Zeller to buy the&nbsp;<strong>\u201c<\/strong>morning after\u201d emergency contraceptive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJaden and Leah went to go get Plan B&#8230;It was disgusting,\u201d Pennington said, touching on Zeller&#8217;s age and position versus Leslie&#8217;s. She turned to the NDA, delving into Leslie\u2019s alleged practice of having his employees sign confidentiality agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBrendon loves to intimidate people into thinking NDAs cover things you\u2019re not supposed to be doing, criminal activity\u2014he loves to think just slapping an NDA on there covers everything, and it doesn\u2019t,\u201d she said, alleging that Leslie repeatedly told her that one of his &#8220;worst fears&#8221; is getting wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct because &#8220;that would ruin his career.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leslie also appears to be accused of making another intern or staffer,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-23-at-7.08.51-AM.png\">Mackenzi<\/a>, &#8220;uncomfortable&#8221; as well as a potential hire named Sienna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_69020\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-23-at-7.06.56-AM.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-69020\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Brendon Leslie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>\u2018Filthy Secrets\u2019: \u2018This Man Needs to Pay for What He Has Done\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the report, Castner did not learn of Leslie&#8217;s alleged advances and &#8220;abuse&#8221;&nbsp;toward Vecerina until after Castner left the company last month\u2014which is exactly when Vecerina, 27, said she was planning to quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vecerina was so \u201cnervous\u201d to tell Leslie of her planned departure that she was \u201cshaking,&#8221; she told Castner, and even asked if it was legal to secretly record Leslie for any future \u201clegal scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just so nervous about what I even say to him,\u201d Vecerina typed. \u201cJust kinda like FYI I have all of your texts, a recording by the pool in key west, and I am contemplating using them as evidence to protect other women from dealing with the same thing.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.57.43-PM.png\"><strong>CLICK IMAGE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m shaking,\u201d she&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.48.40-PM.png\"><strong>added<\/strong><\/a>, before slamming his \u201c<strong>filthy s<\/strong><strong>ecrets<\/strong>.\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.47.03-PM.png\">CLICK IMAGE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTruth always comes out, fucker,&#8221; Vecerina said later.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.48.53-PM.png\">CLICK IMAGE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>&#8220;He\u2019s losing control and he is panicking. It\u2019s extremely obvious. Truth always comes out, fucker.&#8221;\u2014Michelle Vecerina<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>The two women repeatedly assured each other that they weren\u2019t sharing each others\u2019 messages because Castner was building a case and Vecerina feared Leslie\u2019s retribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because Leslie, who later filed an incident report on Nov. 26 alleging Castner was harassing his friends and family after her departure from the company, was searching for which employees were speaking to her and listening to her \u201clies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEveryone, lawyers are involved now. Please cut communications with [Castner]. She\u2019s reaching out to all of you and saying lies,\u201d Leslie texted in the&nbsp;<em>Florida\u2019s Voice<\/em>&nbsp;group chat. \u201cPS: I\u2019m very serious about this. I know someone spoke to her. Do not be insubordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leslie also reached out to Vecerina personally, she told Castner, where he promised that he would \u201cget to the bottom\u201d of who was sending messages to Castner and \u201cfire them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Vecerina kept texting Castner,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.49.52-PM.png\"><strong>telling<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;her, \u201cThis man needs to pay for what he has done and I want him to be embarrassed. He\u2019s the type of guy though that would be out in jail and say he was falsely prosecuted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.49.52-PM.png\" alt=\"Brendon Leslie\" class=\"wp-image-68979\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis [man] needs to be in prison if all of this is true, which [I] completely believe every word,\u201d she said in another message. \u201cI love you girl. I trust you and I believe you. And I do not think you\u2019re crazy.\u201d&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.56.44-PM.png\">CLICK IMAGE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her last message to Castner was on Nov. 16, where she called Leslie\u2019s fling with his intern \u201cso disgusting and creepy.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, Vecerina went&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.58.42-PM.png\"><strong>silent<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four days after ignoring Castner\u2019s texts, the report shows, Vecerina posted to her social media how \u201cblessed\u201d she is to work for Leslie, a \u201chardworking, honest boss\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c@FLVoiceNews is the best,\u201d she wrote on Nov. 20.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vecerina, who still works for the company, told&nbsp;<em>The Floridian&nbsp;<\/em>in a statement that Castner is &#8220;mentally unwell&#8221; and has created &#8220;outlandish lies&#8221; about Leslie because she was &#8220;mad she couldn&#8217;t get her job back.&#8221; She said Castner &#8220;manipulated&#8221; her to the point that &#8220;she literally had me under a spell.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any claims that Leslie had abused her is a &#8220;complete and utter made up disgusting lie,&#8221; Vecerina said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Brendon is a genuinely good person and an incredible boss,&#8221; she said via text. &#8220;I have never once felt uncomfortable around him nor have I ever heard any of my coworkers having any issues with him. This entire situation created by Kaitlyn has been completely fabricated to make him look bad.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;She mind fucked me,&#8221; Vecerina added. &#8220;Don&#8217;t let her do it to you.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Police Findings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Weeks after Castner first spoke to police, Leslie filed his own police report alleging that Castner was harassing his&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/floridianpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screen-Shot-2024-12-19-at-5.49.52-PM.png\">employees<\/a>&nbsp;and family members. Leslie wanted to press charges, claiming his employees didn&#8217;t feel safe over alleged &#8220;malicious intent&#8221; and &#8220;self-proclaimed computer hacking abilities.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Cape Coral Police concluded there was \u201cno probable cause\u201d that Castner committed a crime nor filed a false report, which is a chargeable crime. According to the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/sexual-harassment\">federal government<\/a>, sexual harassment &#8220;is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBased on the information that Kaitlyn provided me it all appears to back up her statement,\u201d wrote Det. Christy Perriam, who interviewed several of the website&#8217;s current and former employees, some of whom anonymously claimed they were &#8220;worried about being targeted&#8221; and &#8220;in fear of retaliation.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two other staffers, Eric Daugherty and Derek Raschke, also told&nbsp;<em>The Floridian<\/em>&nbsp;that they had not witnessed any sexual harassment by Leslie or anyone else at the outlet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I have observed no sexual or otherwise inappropriate behavior directed toward any employee, either in person or virtually,&#8221; said Daugherty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;She filed a fake police report against Brendon Leslie, which came to nothing because all the information provided was a fantasy of her\u2019s. She\u2019s threatened multiple past and current employees of Florida\u2019s Voice, and continues to harass current employees to try to come to her side,&#8221; stated Rashke, despite police noting that the information Castner provided &#8220;appears to back up her statement.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Castner declined to comment for this story, while Leslie and Leonard did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8216;He thinks he walks on water, but he will drown&#8217; Brendon Leslie, CEO of the right-wing&nbsp;Florida\u2019s Voice, has been accused of workplace sexual harassment, abuse, and intimidation by a former&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":60317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2897],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60318,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60316\/revisions\/60318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}