STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ) DIVISION OF LICENSING, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 92-4563

)

DEWIGHT WHILEY WHITE, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

This matter was held on December 23, 1992, in Miami, Florida, by William R. Dorsey, Jr., the Hearing Officer assigned by the Division of Administrative Hearings.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Henri C. Cawthon, Esquire

Assistant General Counsel Department of State, Division of Licensing

The Capitol, Mail Station #4 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250

For Respondent: Dewight Whiley White, pro se

2845 Northwest 163rd Street Opa Locka, Florida 33054

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUE

The issue is whether the Department of State has sufficient grounds to take disciplinary action against the licenses issued to Mr. White pursuant to Chapter 493, Florida Statutes.

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

The Department called two witnesses and offered three exhibits into evidence. By leave granted at the hearing, on January 12, 1993, the Department offered into evidence a fourth exhibit, a copy of a computer printout reflecting reservations made at the Quality Shawnee Beach Resort in Miami Beach, Florida.

Respondent testified on his own behalf and offered one exhibit into evidence. No transcript of the proceeding was filed. The Department filed a proposed recommended order on March 24, 1993. The proposed findings are essentially adopted in this Recommended Order.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Mr. White held a Class "D" Security Officer License, number D90-03408, issued by the Department of State.

   
   

2. Between November 27 and December 1, 1991, Mr. White was employed as a licensed security officer by the Quality Shawnee Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. The hotel has also been known as the Colony Shawnee Miami Beach Resort and the Quality Resort.

   
   

3. Thomas Sanon-Jules, Director of Security for the hotel, was Mr. White's supervisor, and personally trained him on the procedures for logging in and securing lost property found on the hotel property.

   
   

4. Mr. Sanon-Jules developed a manual on the procedures for the disposition of lost property and reviewed it with Mr. White prior to November 28, 1991.

   
   

5. Mr. White knew that lost property must be taken to the lost and found room and logged in prior to notifying the owner that it has been found. The item must be tagged with a number and, in the case of a wallet, placed in a safe deposit box.

   
   

6. Under the hotel's internal policies, after logging an item in, the employee must notify the owner. If the owner wants it returned by mail, the employee must turn it over to the hotel's executive office during working hours to have it mailed. The employee should get a receipt from the executive office at that time.

   
   

7. On November 27, 1991, John Herning, an American Airlines pilot, checked into the Quality Shawnee Hotel for one night.

   
   

8. Before going out that evening, Mr. Herning placed his wallet behind a ceiling tile for safe keeping. He forgot the wallet when he left the next morning at approximately 5:00 a.m.

   
   

9. On the evening of November 29, Mr. Herning called the hotel from his home in Fort Worth, Texas, stating where he had left the wallet, and asking to have the wallet retrieved. He talked to security officer Danny Jones, who indicated that the room was occupied and that Mr. Herning should call back at 7:00 a.m. the next day and ask for Mr. White.

   
   

10. The next morning, Mr. Herning called and talked to Mr. White who said he would look for the wallet. He found it and told Mr. Herning that he would mail it that day, a Saturday.

    
    

11. Mr. Herning told Mr. White that he could split the forty dollars in the wallet with security officer Danny Jones who had also assisted Mr. Herning.

    
    

12. That evening, November 30, the J.C. Penney Department store called Mr. Herning in Fort Worth to tell him that a black male was attempting to use his credit card at their store at the Omni complex at 600 Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami.

    
    

13. After talking to J.C. Penney, Mr. Herning notified the hotel of the call and also called his credit card companies to cancel his other credit card accounts.

14. Mr. Herning did not authorize anyone to use his credit cards after leaving Miami on November 28, 1991. All of his credit cards were in the wallet when it was eventually returned.

    
    

15. After Mr. Herning called the hotel to report the unauthorized use of his credit card, one of the security officers notified Mr. Sanon-Jules of the complaint. Mr. Sanon-Jules directed security officer Jones to look for the wallet at lost and found and in the safe deposit box. He was told that the wallet was not there.

    
    

16. Later that night, Mr. Sanon-Jules had the night supervisor check lost and found for the wallet again, without result.

    
    

17. The next morning, Mr. Sanon-Jules arrived at the hotel at 5:00 a.m. and waited for Mr. White to check in at 7:00 a.m. When Mr. White arrived, Mr. Sanon-Jules asked him about the wallet and Mr. White told him he had placed it in the safe deposit box.

    
    

18. They went to the safe deposit box where Mr. White used his key to open it. There was no wallet in the box or in any of the drawers in the lost and found room.

    
    

19. Mr. Sanon-Jules then asked Mr. White to empty his pockets, whereupon Mr. White produced Mr. Herning's wallet. At the time, Mr. White had no explanation for why he was carrying the wallet.

    
    

20. Mr. Sanon-Jules checked the contents of the wallet and found a number of credit cards.

    
    

21. Mr. Sanon-Jules subsequently went to the J.C. Penney department store at 600 Biscayne Boulevard and viewed a video tape recorded on the department store's security camera on November 30, 1991.

    
    

22. The video showed Mr. White at the counter with two other adult males and a very young male child. (Tr. 20-21, 46-49; Pet. Ex. 3).

    
    

23. One of the adult males in Mr. White's company attempted to use Mr. Herning's J.C. Penney credit card. The department store employee became suspicious when ringing up the sale. The tape shows that they left the store without completing the purchase.

    
    

24. The young boy on the tape had accompanied Mr. White to work at the hotel on several occasions.

    
    

    CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

    
    

25. The Department has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Section 493.6121, Florida Statutes (1991). The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the dispute under Sections 120.57(1) and 120.60, Florida Statutes (1991).

    
    

26. Mr. White is guilty of conduct violating Section 493.6118(1)(f), Florida Statutes (1991), which proscribes fraudulent or deceitful conduct in regulated activities of security guards. He failed to follow his employer's procedures for documenting and securing lost property while employed as a security officer, performing activities regulated by Chapter 493, Florida

    Statutes. He also misappropriated Mr. Herning's wallet by keeping it in his possession and attempting to use Mr. Herning's J.C. Penney credit card, or knowingly allowing another unauthorized person to attempt a transaction with the card.

    
    

27. This conduct by a licensed security officer placed in a position of trust calls for revocation of all licenses held, pursuant to Section 493.6118(2), Florida Statutes (1991).

RECOMMENDATION

It is RECOMMENDED that the Department revoke or deny renewal of all licenses held or applied for by Respondent pursuant to Section 493.6118(2), Florida Statutes.

DONE AND ENTERED in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, this 31st day of March 1993.

WILLIAM R. DORSEY, JR.

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 31st day of March 1993.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Henri C. Cawthon, Esquire Assistant General Counsel Department of State/

Division of Licensing The Capitol, M.S. #4

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250

Dewight Whiley White

2845 Northwest 163rd Street Opa Locka, Florida 33054

The Honorable Jim Smith Secretary of State

The Capitol

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250

Phyllis Slater General Counsel Department of State The Capitol, PL 02

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO SUBMIT EXCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions to this recommended order. All agencies allow each party at least 10 days in which to submit written exceptions. Some agencies allow a larger period within which to submit written exceptions. You should contact the agency that will issue the final order in this case concerning agency rules on the deadline for filing exceptions to this recommended order. Any exceptions to this recommended order should be filed with the agency that will issue the final order in this case.

Docket for Case No: 92-004563

Orders for Case No: 92-004563