This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A former UTOPIA executive filed suit Wednesday accusing West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder of defaming him in an article that he wrote under a fictitious name for KSL.com.
Chris Hogan says in his lawsuit that the article falsely claimed that he had been accused of extortion and was fired for performance issues from the fiber-optic network, an effort by a group of cities to develop high-speed Internet for their communities.
Other defendants in the suit include UTOPIA; West Valley City; Deseret Digital Media, which published the article written by Winder posing under the name Richard Burwash; and The Summit Group, Winder's former employer.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, seeks at least $113,220 in lost wages and benefits and an unspecified amount in punitive and other damages. In addition to defamation, it accuses Winder and several other defendants — including The Summit Group, which handled public relations for UTOPIA — of conspiring to "discredit and defame" Hogan.
Winder disputes Hogan's claims and said he will fight the lawsuit.
"This is America, and if someone feels they have been wronged they have the right to sue, even though we feel that his allegations are baseless," Winder said Wednesday night. "As one of 14 parties being sued by Mr. Hogan in this case, our city attorney has asked that I not comment further on this pending litigation."
Winder — who formally announced his candidacy for Salt Lake County mayor on Tuesday — has been under fire since revealing in November that he had been writing articles about West Valley City issues under the Burwash name.
The stories published by the Deseret News and KSL.com were submitted via Deseret Connect, a venue for freelance writers to contribute to those outlets, the Mormon Times and LDS Church News . Deseret Connect editors did not know he was Burwash until he told them on Nov. 7, the mayor has said.
Winder said he was frustrated that the Deseret News had drastically reduced its city government coverage after layoffs last year, but not its crime coverage, and he wanted to "try to restore balance." He quoted himself in some of the articles.
The KSL.com article, which was published May 1, said that Hogan, who was a contract employee of UTOPIA, had been accused of "extortion" in court documents. The documents were part of a lawsuit that UTOPIA filed in Utah's 3rd District Court in an attempt to keep Hogan from discussing his allegations of mismanagement and possible bid rigging at the network. Winder received the documents as mayor of a city involved in UTOPIA, and whether they were sealed at the time is in dispute.
Hogan claims he was wrongfully terminated from his position for questioning the leadership of Todd Marriott, the network's executive director, and for expressing concerns about possible bid rigging. UTOPIA officials have denied his allegations.
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC —
Work by "Richard Burwash"
West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder used the name "Richard Burwash" to submit articles publishedbetween Sept. 10, 2010, and May 27, 2011, in the Deseret News, KSL.com and the Oquirrh Times, a weekly community newspaper.
A photo of the St. George town square attributed to "R. Burwash" was published in The Salt Lake Tribune on Oct. 27, 2010. The paper requested the photo from West Valley City, and Winder provided it, saying it should be credited to "R.Burwash." The Tribune was unaware of "Burwash's" identity and has removed the credit from the photo in its archives.
Deseret Connect editors were unaware that he was the writer behind the Burwash byline, according to Winder. He said the Oquirrh Times editor, Howard Stahle, knew he was the author; Stahle has said that he did not know.
Winder resigned Nov. 15 from his job as director of public affairs for The Summit Group, a public relations and lobbying firm, in response to the pen name controversy.