TAMPA, Fla. — Former Republican congressional candidate Jackie Toledo filed a lawsuit Monday accusing her former campaign manager of sexual harassment.
During her campaign to run as a Republican candidate to represent Florida's 15th congressional district, Toledo hired Fredrick Piccolo as her campaign manager on May 2, 2022, court documents show.
Sixteen days later, Piccolo was already working as Toledo's campaign manager when he sent "unwanted, unsolicited, inappropriate, and grossly offensive sexually harassing text messages and images" to her, according to court documents.
"While some of Mr. Piccolo’s text messages offered advice for breast augmentation and referenced Mr. Piccolo’s wife’s breasts, others included images of a sexual and inappropriate nature," the documents stated in part.
Court documents say that at least one image sent to Toledo from Piccolo included a picture of him with an erection. Other photos reportedly showed Piccolo only wearing undergarments.
Piccolo denied the allegations, according to an interview with Florida Politics, stating "the messages attached as evidence lack context."
When Toledo would ask questions about her campaign through texts, Piccolo would at times continue to send inappropriate images, court documents report.
"On at least one occasion, Mr. Piccolo sent Ms. Toledo a shirtless image with his hand in his underwear, stating it was sent as 'Monday Motivation,'" the documents stated. "In the same message, Mr. Piccolo stated, 'For every $10k u raise today you can pick any photo.'"
When Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Piccolo informed Toledo that he would be working as a communication consultant to assist with the removal of Warren, according to court documents.
"After accepting the consultant role related to the Hillsborough County State Attorney controversy, Mr. Piccolo failed to maintain his obligations to the Toledo Campaign, further attempting to force-through a termination of the Agreement," documents say.
Court documents report Piccolo did not keep up with his duties as Toledo's campaign manager while he was working in his consultant role and that's why she wants to "terminate the Agreement, entitling Mr. Piccolo to collect no less than $100,000 pursuant to the Termination Penalty."
Piccolo told Florida Politics he and Toledo have "known each other for 10 years and often bantered back and forth as friends do," the outlet reported. He also admitted to sending one of the photos by mistake, stating his wife and Toledo's message threads were "next to each other."