A Davis County sheriff's sergeant has filed a $650,000 suit, accusing Sheriff Glenn Clary of harrassing him.
Curtis W. Johnson filed the suit earlier this month in 2nd District Court in Farmington. It names both Clary and the department.Johnson, the son of former Sheriff Brant Johnson, says Clary demoted him, made derogatory remarks about him to others and tried to fire him for political reasons.
Johnson appealed the firing and was reinstated by a personnel review council.
Johnson, who has been a deputy since 1978, says Clary singled him out for abuse because he campaigned for his father, who beat Clary, then Riverdale's police chief, in the 1986 election.
Johnson said he also openly campaigned for former Sheriff Harry Jones, who lost his 1990 election bid to Clary.
"That's not true. I never said anything to him about opposing me. About half the people in this office supported the sheriff," Clary said.
Clary said he plans to fight the legal action but would not discuss the case on the advice of the county attorney's office.
Johnson was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant in 1991.
Johnson said he was told he was taken from his administrative position because more employees were needed in the department's paramedic unit.
"The only thing I can say is he (Clary) put another paramedic in my old position three weeks later. He left him there for two years," Johnson said.
The sheriff's office made a four-month internal investigation of Johnson after a woman claimed improprieties on his part.
Officials found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, but Johnson was dismissed for alleged violations of department policies. The county's personnel review council ruled sheriff's officials failed to prove their allegations and reinstated Johnson.
Johnson said he was placed on the medical staff of the county jail rather than being returned to his old position. He filed a grievance, and the review council ordered him returned to the patrol division, where he currently works.