Riviera staffer: Calling out ex-NFL player led to demotion
In a new lawsuit, a 23-year city employee says she was moved to an office with no desk, no phone and no computer.
While Riviera Beach officials say a former NFL player who is a registered sex offender is no longer helping the city run its youth sports programs, the strange controversy is far from over.
It took a new twist on Oct. 2 when former Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Aladia Franks sued the city, claiming she was unfairly stripped of her duties after questioning why city officials failed to do mandatory background checks before football standout Abram Elam was hired as a consultant to serve as the city’s athletic director.
“Urgent! Please advise!” Franks emailed her bosses on Aug. 2 after discovering Elam’s photo and a cursory account of his 2003 sexual battery conviction on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s sex offender website.
Two days later, the 23-year city worker was told she would no longer be helping lead the parks department. Instead, according to the whistleblower lawsuit she filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, she was given a newly created position as special events manager and ushered into an office that had no desk, no phone and no computer. Her new duties, she said, were non-existent.
“They were definitely making her Public Enemy No. 1,” said attorney Sid Garcia, who is representing Franks. “They’re not accusing her of not doing her job. They’re accusing her of upsetting the apple cart.”
Support from on high
While city officials declined to comment on Franks’ allegations, Elam has some powerful backers in City Hall.
Even when national Pop Warner League officials threatened to disqualify the city’s champion youth football and cheer squads from the fall season if Elam remained at the helm, city officials stood by the 41-year-old Palm Beach Gardens resident.
During an Aug. 23 city commission meeting, Mayor Ronnie Felder blasted those who criticized the city for allowing Elam to oversee youth sports programs.
Saying it was “disappointing that people would go to the lengths to try to just kill his name and kill his character,” Felder vowed to “fight for him to the end.”
“I’m in full support of that young man because of his heart,” Felder said. “He’s not here for the money. He’s here for our kids and he’s here to change our recreation department and I’m all for that.”
Despite Felder’s vow of support, city spokeswoman Brittany Collins said last week that Elam’s $25,000 yearlong contract expired and he is no longer serving as the city’s athletic director.
How Elam got the contract is unclear. It was signed on Aug. 25, 2022, by City Manager Jonathan Evans and City Attorney Dawn Wynn.
But, it was made retroactive to June 1 because, Collins said, Elam was already doing the work. According to its terms, the contract would have expired four months ago not in August when the controversy exploded.
Franks was on family medical leave when Elam began work and when the contract was signed, Garcia said. She didn’t look into Elam’s hiring until this summer when the football season began to ramp up.
“She assumed all the background checks had been done,” he said.
Cardinal Newman football standout
Elam, who didn’t return a phone call for comment, has long been involved in youth sports in Palm Beach County.
In 2009, four years before his professional career ended, he founded the TEAM Elam Foundation. On its website, Elam said the foundation “was a way not only to give back to his community but to help combat violence and negative influences by exposing youth to an array of positive influences.”
Elam knows firsthand about violence. Three of his siblings were fatally shot in Riviera Beach.
He also knows about the redemptive power of athletics. In interviews, he has talked about his desire to make his parents proud by excelling at sports. He earned a scholarship to Cardinal Newman High School where he was a standout on the football team and helped its basketball team win consecutive state titles.
His charmed athletic career and his reputation were forever tarnished in 2002 when he was a sophomore at Notre Dame, where he earned a football scholarship. Elam and three of his teammates were accused of rape by a 20-year-old student.
In 2003, Elam was found guilty of sexual battery and placed on probation for two years. One of his teammates was acquitted at trial. Charges against the two others were dismissed. All were expelled from school.
While required to register as a sex offender for life, Elam isn’t legally prohibited from working with kids, said Teri Barbera, a spokesperson for the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Florida law places severe limits on those who are convicted of sex crimes involving children under 18 years old. It bars them from living close to parks and from jobs involving kids.
However, youth sports organizations, such as the Pop Warner League, have different rules. Citing guidelines from the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, they say any felony arrest is disqualifying.
Despite his legal troubles, Elam graduated from Kent State University in Ohio. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2006 and played for three other teams, including the New York Jets, before retiring in 2012.
His younger brother, Matt, who is co-founder of the foundation, was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens a year later. Elam’s son, Kaiir, was signed by the Buffalo Bills last year.
Garcia noted that Elam is the leader of “a very highly pedigreed athletic family.” The support he has gotten from Riviera leaders speaks to his stature in the community.
While more than 20 years have passed since he was accused of rape, Garcia said Riviera Beach can’t ignore policies designed to protect children.
“Everyone believes in second chances,” he said. But, there are times when people’s pasts just can’t be ignored.
Franks wants her former job back, according to the lawsuit. While she didn’t receive a pay cut, she is seeking damages for the trauma of her unexpected and unjustified transfer, Garcia said. He said he didn’t know how much he would be seeking.
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