Plantation council recesses public meeting for private attorney–client session in pending lawsuit

The City of Plantation convened a special council meeting at 5:00 p.m. and recessed the public portion to hold a private attorney–client session under Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, regarding the pending litigation Brianna Charles v. City of Plantation, case number CACE 23-012718, pending in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County.

Council members in attendance were listed as Anderson, Andreiou, Fadgett, Horland and Mariani; Mayor Sordle was present. The presiding official also named Chief Administrative Officer Jason Nunezmacher, special counsel Scott Alexander, City Attorney Kerry Esrault and a court reporter as attendees for the private session.

The council estimated the attorney–client session would last approximately 30 minutes. The presiding official said the session would be limited in scope to litigation costs, expenses and settlement discussions. As stated during the meeting, the private transcript prepared by the court reporter is confidential and exempt from public disclosure during the litigation; the transcript will become a public record once the litigation is concluded.

Before adjourning the public portion, officials said they would stop any recording or public projection so the discussion would be held privately. No formal vote or motion text was recorded in the public transcript beyond the announcement that the meeting would recess into the private session.

The council did not discuss the merits of the case in public remarks, nor were settlement terms or other substantive litigation details presented in the public portion of the meeting. The public comments and formal business that would follow the private session, if any, were not included in the available transcript.