Briana Whatley, a former high school debate champion now at Florida State University, has filed a small-claims suit alleging James Fishback and the Incubate Foundation failed to pay $8,000 promised in scholarship funds. Court papers say Whatley accepted a $10,000 national prize but received only $3,000 via Zelle; the suit accuses Fishback of ignoring communications and changing payment terms. A pretrial conference is set for 9 September; Fishback called the matter an "oversight" and said it is being fixed.
Florida Gubernatorial Candidate Accused Of Withholding $8,000 From Student Debate Champion
Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback.Photograph: Dave Decker/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
A high-profile Florida Republican running for governor, James Fishback, and the Incubate Foundation are facing a small-claims lawsuit after a former high school debate champion, Briana Whatley, says she did not receive nearly $8,000 in scholarship funds she was promised.
Whatley, now a sophomore history student at Florida State University, won regional and national honors in Incubate Debate, a league founded by Fishback to encourage youth political engagement. A recording posted by Fishback to Substack in May 2024 shows Whatley accepting a $10,000 national prize; she had previously received two $500 area awards.
According to the Broward County small-claims complaint reviewed by the Guardian and reported by Florida Politics, a written award from Incubate promised full payment on the day Whatley graduated high school. The filing says the organization and Fishback ultimately paid only $3,000 via Zelle and have not delivered the remaining $8,000.
The suit alleges that Incubate Debate initially ignored repeated inquiries, then sought to change the payment terms. The complaint quotes the plaintiff saying Fishback "personally evaded and defrauded Plaintiff by initially ignoring communications, later blaming a terminated employee for the written award terms, falsely claiming an unwritten 'installment policy,' and delaying payment for months."
The filing also includes text-message excerpts in which Fishback acknowledges an oversight—writing that he had "totally dropped the ball on this one"—and later asks Whatley to resend her bank details. The complaint says a promised installment scheduled for 1 February went unpaid and that communication ended several months later.
Whatley is seeking the outstanding $8,000 plus interest and court costs; a pretrial conference is scheduled for 9 September. Her suit states she has suffered "severe financial injury and out-of-pocket damages" as a result of the alleged nonpayment.
Fishback, 31, who is competing for the Republican nomination for Florida governor and faces an 18 August primary, issued a brief emailed statement to the Guardian: "This was an oversight on my part. We are fixing it." He recently survived a legal challenge from rival Jay Collins seeking to remove him from the primary ballot over residency questions.
Background
In May 2023, Fishback and Whatley both criticized the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) for what they described as censorship: Fishback argued in an essay that the NSDA had been "hijacked by left-wing politics," while Whatley told Fox News Digital she was warned not to mention former president Donald Trump during competitions.
Note: Allegations above come from court documents and media reporting. The claims in the lawsuit have not been proven in court.
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