Attorney says whistleblower was fired in retaliation by Great Naples Fire

The lawyer for a former firefighter says he lost his career in the blink of an eye, all because he tried to do the right thing.

Kevin Nelmes filed a lawsuit against Greater Naples Fire Rescue District claiming it misused COVID-19 relief funds.

Nelmes’ attorney, Ben Yormak, calls this a classic case of retaliation against a whistleblower, and he did not mince words. He said he is anxious to prove the fire district not only failed to act on Nelmes’ warning but also fired him for bringing this forward.

For 18 years, Nelmes wore a uniform and a firefighter’s badge. He rose to division chief of the fire district.

“It’s the people we serve,” Nelmes said.

Nelmes accused his superiors of misusing CARES Act money.

“Their, you know, sometimes decades-long career is … over in the blink of an eye,” Yormak said. “All because, you know, whistleblower is trying to protect public money.”

Instead of investigating his complaint, Nelmes in a federal lawsuit claims Greater Naples Fire District investigated him, and, a week later, he was gone.

“Bringing that issue to the attention of the higher ups within the district, I don’t think did him any favors as far as his employment went by doing the right thing by trying to prevent waste of public monies,” Yormak said. “He unfortunately did so at the expense of his employment.”

We pressed Yormak to provide specifics, including how did Nelmes know the fire district was misusing CARES Act money and how it was being used, but he refused to answer those questions.

“This is his what he has devoted his almost entire professional life to go on in the blink of an eye,” Yormak said. “And that is a lot to digest and … try to deal with.”