An investigation in 2022 found that former Sen. Gene Davis “more likely than not” violated the Utah Legislature’s sexual harassment policies in his interactions with an intern. Now that intern is suing — and Utahns are footing Davis’ legal bills.
Besides naming Davis as a defendant, the lawsuit filed by Sonia Weglinski includes claims against the Utah Legislature as a whole — which, it alleges, knew “that Defendant Davis harassed young, female employees.”
Weglinski’s lawsuit points out she was not the first person to accuse Davis of sexual misconduct — contending that the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, which oversees internships, and former internship coordinator Nathan Brady share responsibility in what she says happened to her.
While it’s not immediately clear how much the state will spend defending all five, the fiscal 2024 hourly rate for attorneys housed in the attorney general’s office is $161. Assistant Attorney General Joseph Adams, who specializes in employment law, is handling the case.
It’s standard for the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel to provide “legal counsel and representation for our legislative clients in state and federal court,” according to its website, but that responsibility shifts to the attorney general’s office in lawsuits that include liability claims.
Under the Governmental Immunity Act of Utah, “a governmental entity shall defend any action brought against its employee” if the employee makes a written request.
However, the state can decline to provide legal assistance to an employee for several reasons, including if it determines the worker’s actions did not occur “during the performance of the employee’s duties” as well as if “the employee acted or failed to act through fraud or willful misconduct.”
The claims by Weglinski, who has previously agreed to have her name published, include a period of time when she was working on Davis’ campaign, separate from his legislative work. The complaint also describes alleged “inappropriate and unwelcome” behavior that she says occurred at Davis’ residence.
Asked why the Legislature is sharing counsel with the ex-senator, a spokesperson referred questions to the Utah Division of Risk Management, which handles insurance and loss control services, including employment and civil rights claims against the state.
An assistant director with the division did not immediately respond to a voicemail, and another employee directed questions toward the attorney general’s office. That office’s spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit. Adams is expected to file a response to the complaint early next month.
Davis was defeated in the June 2022 Democratic primary election by current Sen. Nate Blouin. His intern during the 2022 legislative session, who he subsequently hired to work on his campaign, said she waited to come forward with the sexual misconduct allegations until August of that year, to avoid accusations that she was sharing her story for political reasons.
“I had to experience this without any accountability — prolong my experience — because I knew I wouldn’t be heard,” Weglinski told The Salt Lake Tribune at the time.
In challenging the accusations, Davis previously retained attorney Benjamin Grindstaff. According to the Democrat’s 2022 year-end report, Davis used $10,837.50 of campaign funds to pay the legal bills.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson’s office told The Tribune in January 2023 that it was considering penalties for the expenditure, but a spokesperson for the office later confirmed that it did not move ahead with investigating the potential “personal use” of campaign money.
Senate President Stuart Adams announced shortly after the accusations became public that the Senate had commissioned an independent investigation into Davis’ interactions with the intern, hiring law firm Parsons Behle & Latimer. That investigation, according to a spokesperson, cost the Senate nearly $19,930.40.
In its report, published in October of that year, witnesses repeatedly corroborated Weglinski’s claims of Davis touching her inappropriately and invading her personal boundaries, and that he served her alcohol while she was underage. Davis was subsequently removed from all committee assignments, and he announced he would retire from the Legislature early — leaving in late November, after the majority of the body’s interim meetings had concluded, rather than at the end of the year.
A former legislative staffer had outlined allegations of inappropriate behavior by Davis in a 2021 Facebook post. And KUTV previously reported that a 2016 sexual harassment report made by another staffer, initially obtained by the Associated Press in 2018, was linked to Davis, according to what it said was a “well-placed source.”
The Legislature replaced Brady as its internship coordinator after The Tribune reported on his 2013 email exchange with a former lawmaker about female interns’ physical appearances. Brady is still employed by the Legislature in a separate capacity.
As part of the lawsuit, Weglinski is seeking compensation from the state and Legislature, as well as from Davis and Brady, for the former lawmaker’s alleged actions causing “extreme distress” and for how they have “impacted her personal life as well as her educational plans.”
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