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Sports · North America

Florida Bar places employee on leave over messages to Miami player

The Florida Bar placed employee Kade McLendon on administrative leave while investigating messages from an account using his name to Miami football player Damon Wilson II. The Bar said the messages violated its employee social media policy and that it would protect due-process rights as the investigation continues.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 independent reports from 5 outlets · Article text read from 2 of 3 reportsHow it's made

View timeline · 4 entries
5 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Mostly CenterL 0 · C 4 · R 1
Updat3 graphic: Miami
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • The messages were sent after Miami beat Florida State (per New York Post, espnlacrosse.com, ESPN).
  • The messages or direct messages were described as racist (per New York Post, aol.com, aol.co.uk).
  • The messages included a racial slur, references to slavery, and threats of sexual violence against Wilson and his family (per New York Post).
  • The Florida Bar said the messages violated its employee social media policy and said it would protect due-process rights during the investigation (per New York Post, espnlacrosse.com, ESPN).
  • The Miami Herald reported that McLendon's Instagram and LinkedIn accounts had been shut down by Monday night (per New York Post).
  • The Florida Bar said the investigation was continuing (per New York Post, espnlacrosse.com, ESPN).

The brief

The Florida Bar placed employee Kade McLendon on administrative leave while investigating messages sent to Miami football player Damon Wilson II from an account using McLendon’s name. ESPN’s headline described the action as a suspension, while the Florida Bar’s statement, as reported by the New York Post, said McLendon had been placed on administrative leave.

Both accounts describe an employment action during an investigation, not a finding that McLendon sent the messages himself. The New York Post reported that the account sent several messages to Wilson, a Miami linebacker, after Miami beat Florida State.

It said the messages included a racial slur, references to slavery and threats of sexual violence against Wilson and his family. AOL’s headlines also characterized the direct messages as racist, but did not provide further details. The Florida Bar’s statement characterized the messages as violations of its employee social media policy.

The messages followed Miami’s win over Florida State. The New York Post reported that Miami defeated the Seminoles 43-35 in double overtime on Saturday. Neither the win nor the timing establishes who controlled or used the account that sent the messages; the Bar is investigating the matter. The Bar said it would protect due-process rights during the investigation.

That position places the case at an investigatory stage: the Bar has taken an employment measure and described a policy violation in the messages, while the sources do not report a final finding about who sent them. The distinction matters because an account using an employee’s name does not, by itself, establish authorship.

The Miami Herald reported that McLendon’s Instagram and LinkedIn accounts had been shut down by Monday night. The New York Post also reported that screenshots of McLendon’s LinkedIn profile showed he had worked as a computer technician for the Florida Bar since June 2024 and had graduated from Florida State University.

The Florida Bar’s investigation is the next documented step. The sources report no completed finding or further employment decision, so the central unresolved question is whether the Bar determines who sent the messages and how that finding affects McLendon’s status.

Why it matters

  • Damon Wilson II and his family were the direct targets of messages that, according to the New York Post, included threats of sexual violence as well as a racial slur and references to slavery.
  • The Florida Bar has put Kade McLendon on administrative leave while it investigates; the Bar’s inquiry concerns both alleged conduct and its employee social media policy.
  • The messages followed Miami’s 43-35 double-overtime win over Florida State, but the timing alone does not identify who controlled the account.

What to watch next

  • Whether the Florida Bar completes its investigation into the account and identifies who sent the messages.
  • Whether the Florida Bar makes a further employment decision concerning Kade McLendon.
  • Whether the Bar’s findings address the messages’ reported violation of its employee social media policy.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets · 3 distinct reports
Outlet political mix: Mostly Center· 4 Center · 1 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 80% · Europe 20%
Outlet political mix
Mostly Center
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
4 outlets
1 outlet
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 5 rated sources); comparatively few Left-rated outlets have published on the event.
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in US/Canada (4 of 5 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 framing difference · 2 uncorroborated claims · 2 information gaps
The reports repeat the same account with different emphasis; its central claims are not independently confirmed in the reporting Updat3 read.Compared across 2 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 1 other outlet was checked by headline only.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • ESPN’s headline says the Florida Bar suspended an employee, while the New York Post reports that the Bar placed McLendon on administrative leave.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • The New York Post reports that the Florida Bar identified Kade McLendon as the employee under investigation; the ESPN headline refers only to an employee.
  • The Florida Bar said the messages violated its employee social media policy and that it would protect due-process rights during the investigation.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not describe any additional independent investigation or findings about the account’s user.
  • The sources do not establish who controlled or used the account that sent the messages; the Florida Bar is investigating.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The Florida Bar, the state’s integrated bar association, was created in 1950 to regulate the legal profession and serve the public.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. Miami and Florida State’s football rivalry dates to their first meeting on October 5, 1951, and the teams’ games became nationally prominent during the 1980s and 1990s.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. The sport’s broader history also includes documented racial exclusion: the Southeastern Conference did not integrate until the 1960s, with Black players entering its football programs beginning in 1966.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. Florida’s lawyer-discipline system operates under rules adopted by the Florida Supreme Court, including the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, first adopted in 1986.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

Miami and Florida State’s football rivalry dates to their first meeting on October 5, 1951, and the teams’ games became nationally prominent during the 1980s and 1990s. The Florida Bar, the state’s integrated bar association, was created in 1950 to regulate the legal profession and serve the public.

Florida’s lawyer-discipline system operates under rules adopted by the Florida Supreme Court, including the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, first adopted in 1986. The sport’s broader history also includes documented racial exclusion: the Southeastern Conference did not integrate until the 1960s, with Black players entering its football programs beginning in 1966.

Original sources

1 of 5 articles · Europe · Show all

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