Ex-Anna Maria official alleges ‘horrific pattern of abuse’ in city lawsuit
A former high-ranking city official is suing the City of Anna Maria amid allegations of discrimination and whistleblower retaliation.
The suit, filed in April by former City Treasurer LeAnne Endres, alleges city leadership discriminated against older employees, rejected her disability accommodations and wrongfully terminated her after she raised concerns about illegally tracking another employee.
Endres, 57, was employed by the city from September 2016 to November 2025. She started as the city clerk and later promoted to the treasurer position.
In the suit, she alleges the “disparate treatment and retaliation” she experienced last year came mainly from Mayor Mark Short and City Clerk Amber LaRowe.
Endres is seeking a jury trial and over $100,000 for disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, retaliation, age discrimination and public whistleblower retaliation.
“The City contests the allegations in the complaint and outside counsel will vigorously defend the case in court,” Short wrote in an email to the Bradenton Herald.
Marie Mattox, a Tallahassee-based attorney, is representing Endres in the suit.
“Ms. Endres was subjected to a horrific pattern of abuse due to her age and disability and due to her whistleblower reports,” Mattox said in an emailed statement to the Bradenton Herald. “False and damning allegations were made against her to cover up the illegal motive behind her termination and the false claims then and now that are being made against her are concocted to distract from the City’s illegal behavior.”
Suit alleges discrimination, failure to accommodate disability
In April 2025, Endres attended a meeting with Short and LaRowe about hiring for a finance assistant position. Endres alleged that Short said he was “looking for someone in their 30s” and “did not wish to hire anyone old.”
LaRowe agreed and said “I don’t want an old b***h in here,” the suit alleges.
Endres claimed the city often granted pay raises to “younger, less qualified employees,” continuously denying her requests for similar compensation.
The suit also alleges the city rejected Endres’ requests for disability accommodations due to her chronic autoimmune disorder.
“Plaintiff’s symptoms, which affected her daily and work life, included headaches, fatigue, brain fog and physical pain,” the suit states.
In October 2025, Endres submitted an Americans with Disabilities Act request for accommodations like short breaks and increased remote work. The city denied the request, while permitting another, younger employee to work from home for multiple days a week, the suit alleges.
“Immediately after Plaintiff’s ADA request was submitted, she began experiencing retaliatory action from LaRowe and Short up until Plaintiff’s wrongful termination, including being excluded from meetings, having restricted access to software and programs necessary for Plaintiff’s job duties, and having her Plaintiff’s job processes changed without notice,” the suit states.
Former treasurer alleges illegal actions by city
Endres claims that, in March 2025, Short “suggested that they illegally claim that a previously damaged seawall was damaged as a result of a recent hurricane to request that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) finance the repairs.” Endres objected to the suggestion.
The suit also alleges that, in September 2025, LaRowe and Code Enforcement Manager David Dezutter suggested tracking a public works employee by hiding an Apple AirTag in his work vehicle. Endres said she was against the idea, and said they should instead look into an employee tracking service with the employee’s permission.
“However, Dezutter and LaRowe dismissed (Endres’) concerns, stating that hiding an AirTag in (the employee’s) car seemed to be a simple option,” the suit states.
On Nov. 10, 2025, that public works employee told Endres he found an AirTag in his work vehicle, and he later filed a report with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department.
Endres later reported that the employee found the AirTag, and she emailed Short and LaRowe to confirm tracking devices were not being used on city employees.
“Approximately five minutes later…in retaliation for Plaintiff’s protected report, Plaintiff received a termination notice from Short via email with an offer for voluntary resignation,” the suit claims, arguing that the city also violated its policy by failing to provide a cause for termination.
After Endres refused to resign, the mayor sent an email stating that the offer to resign voluntarily had been rescinded and threatened to withhold her severance payment, according to the lawsuit.
In December 2025, Endres received a notice that an internal investigation began, “which falsely alleged that (Endres) improperly used city funds and account points for personal use,” the suit states.
“The City employees who have made the spurious claims against her should be ashamed to have ruined Ms. Endres’ good name and should have to pay for what they have done to her,” Mattox said in an email. “Unfortunately, she was forced to file the lawsuit because of the behavior of some of the very same people who have accused her of financial mismanagement and they have retaliated.”
As of Thursday, the city had not filed a response, according to Manatee County Clerk of Court records.
