A Texas-based emergency response company has filed a federal lawsuit against the Florida Division of Emergency Management, alleging it is owed more than $7.5 million for its role in helping evacuate hundreds of individuals from Haiti earlier this year.
TAD Recovery Services, LLC, a company specializing in rapid response during natural disasters and geopolitical crises, filed the complaint on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. The lawsuit claims that despite providing critical services under urgent and dangerous conditions, the state has failed to compensate them for their work.
According to court documents, the Florida agency first reached out to TAD Recovery in March 2024 to assist with the evacuation of children connected to the Tim Tebow Foundation in Haiti. As the situation in the country escalated due to widespread violence and political instability, the mission expanded beyond the initial scope to include the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Florida residents.
TAD Recovery states that it successfully carried out emergency evacuation operations—transporting people out of high-risk zones—and provided essential logistical support. However, they claim that the state of Florida has not paid the $7,544,031 billed for those services.
The issue now casts a shadow over the much-publicized evacuation effort. In an April 24, 2024 press release, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that 722 Americans had been successfully evacuated from Haiti through Florida’s emergency response efforts. The lawsuit raises new questions about whether all contractual and financial obligations related to that mission have been fulfilled.
As of now, the Florida Division of Emergency Management has not commented publicly on the allegations.
Source: Miami Herald
