Florida’s Citizens President Gilway: Staff Firings Premature

In the face of criticism, the top executive of Florida’s state-backed property insurer acknowledged that his decision to close the insurer’s office in charge of corporate oversight before having its replacement in place was ill-advised.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. executives recently decided to disband its office of corporate integrity and terminate its four employees as part of a plan to revamp the insurer’s handling of employee conduct issues and internal fraud and abuse.

Florida Governor Rick Scott, however, quickly criticized the move, noting that the insurer is still being investigated by Florida’s Chief Inspector General based on charges that executives overspent thousands of dollars on travel and related expenses and for the widespread use of corporate credit cards.

“Your decision to disband the office of corporate integrity while this investigation remains ongoing is troubling,” Scott wrote Gilway.

Gilway said that steps have been put in place so there would be no lapse of oversight as the insurer realigns its supervision of corporate activities. However, he acknowledged that Scott’s concerns have merit.

“In retrospect, my decision on the timing of these changes, particularly given the audit that is currently underway by his Inspector General, would have been revised,” said Gilway.