Salt Lake County settles lawsuit with former prosecutor

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller and longtime prosecutor Kent Morgan — one-time political rivals whose relationship descended into a rancorous, yearslong, employer-employee feud — finally parted ways Tuesday following a mediated settlement.

Morgan said the arbitration process — conducted by Utah Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem — was "key to bringing this thing to a close" and that he felt "vindicated" by the settlement.

Miller called the resolution "a good thing for the DA's office and Mr. Morgan."

The agreement brings to a close a running battle that started in 2006 when Morgan lost to Miller at a Republican convention run-off for district attorney then resurfaced in early 2008 when Miller fired Morgan under allegations that he leaked information to an owner of an illegal escort service that was under investigation by the office.

That termination was appealed and won by Morgan, who was later demoted from front-line prosecutor to a legal clerk — a job he said was more suited to law students than veteran litigators. Miller said she was not comfortable putting Morgan in a position of trust in her office, a feeling that was based, in part, on phone records indicating numerous communications between Morgan and former Doll House owner Santiago Steven Maese, who was later convicted of multiple felonies, including exploitation of a prostitute. Miller said those calls, made while Maese was under investigation, were never adequately explained by Morgan.

Morgan argued that point in his subsequent appeal of the demotion, and won, but claimed that "unlawful retaliatory actions" against him continued — and led him to file a notice of claim in preparation for a lawsuit against Miller's office.

The settlement agreed to on Monday calls for the county to grant five years of work service retirement contributions on Morgan's behalf in the amount of $150,000, allowing him to retire at the 30-years of service rate, effective March 31. It also covers $30,000 in legal fees and stipulates a contract for $72,000 for Morgan to complete projects for the DA's office that were already in progress. Morgan will also get about $70,000 in early retirement compensation as part of a program currently available to all retirement-eligible employees.

On Thursday, Morgan said he was glad to find closure with Miller's office, but the path to a resolution was one that had worn him down.

"No one ever offered to sit down with me and work this out," Morgan said. "I've had to scrap and fight every inch of the way through this."

He said that dogged determinism and an assurance that he was fighting for what was right got him through to the end.

Miller said that Morgan's threatened lawsuit did not play a role in bringing the two parties together and that the mediation appointment was set up before Morgan filed his claim notice in March. She said, following the settlement, that she and others in her office were ready to move on.

The DA's office and Morgan "jointly agreed that the disharmony that was continuing needed to end," Miller said. "This conclusion will allow everyone involved to move forward."

e-mail: araymond@desnews.com