ORLANDO, Fla. – Former State Attorney Jeff Ashton told News 6 he was troubled by what he considered the “public humiliation” of six employees terminated in connection with alleged drug use by his successor, Aramis Ayala, last month.
“In this case, there seems to have been this sort of administratively lazy attitude of 'just throw everybody out,'” Ashton said.
Ayala announced the termination of six staffers following an interoffice investigation that confirmed drug use by three employees including victims advocate Shannon Solo and assistant state attorneys Danielle Wall and Alicia Virginio.
Solo admitted using cocaine during her own bachelorette party at an Airbnb in New Orleans last September.
Virginio, along with victims advocates Rachel Shaw and Barbara Kathleen Brown, also attended the party but only Virginio admitted using marijuana at the party, while Shaw and Brown denied using any drugs.
The terminations were announced during an afternoon press conference on Jan. 20 where all six employees were identified.
Ashton said “outing” their names wasn’t necessary and that Solo’s case could have been handled differently.
“As the state attorney I might have considered suspending her without pay and force her to get some drug counseling because she was an excellent advocate,” he said.
Both victims advocates Shaw and Casey Perkins are considering legal action against the State Attorney’s Office for wrongful termination.
Perkins said she felt like she was being “interrogated” and was losing her job because “someone else used drugs.”
Ashton said firing Perkins makes no sense at all.
“At most what she did was not rat out her fellow employees for things she heard they might have done; I just don’t see what the community gains,” Ashton said.
Ayala’s office issued this statement to News 6 Monday:
“People participating in illegal drug use while working at the State Attorney’s Office is not a small issue. Employees displaying a lack of candor when asked about the illegal drug use is also not a small issue. Prosecutors and employees in my office will be held to the high standard that their power and authority dictates.”
News 6 has learned that another employee has retained an attorney to launch a lawsuit against the office. That employee is expected to go public within the next few weeks.