Hailey attorney Douglas Werth, who wants to be Blaine County's next district court judge, is not pleased that a sexual discrimination lawsuit filed against him 10 years ago has surfaced during the election campaign.
"It is my understanding that attorneys supporting Judge Elgee are sending out e-mails trying to make an issue of this lawsuit," said Werth, who is running against incumbent Judge Robert J. Elgee in the May 25 primary election. "In my view, this is just ugly politics."
The Idaho Mountain Express has not confirmed that Elgee supporters sent out any such e-mails, but backers of Elgee did bring the lawsuit to the attention of the newspaper.
The lawsuit was filed against Werth and Blaine County by former deputy prosecutor K. Jill Bolton on June 27, 2000. At that time, Werth was the county's prosecuting attorney and Bolton was one of his employees.
Bolton alleged in the lawsuit that Werth engaged in "unlawful and retaliatory treatment" against her, promoted less-qualified male attorneys ahead of her, repeatedly gave her lower pay raises than those he gave to male employees and reneged on commitments to give her "opportunities and responsibilities that would advance her career."
Bolton further alleged that Werth forbade her to speak with the Blaine County commissioners about her complaints, that he moved her office into a building separate from himself, that he denied her training opportunities and that he retaliated against her by filing disciplinary actions.
The lawsuit was originally filed in Blaine County 5th District Court, but was later transferred to U.S. District Court in Boise. An out-of-court settlement was reached in 2001 and the case was dismissed by agreement of both parties on June 15 of that year.
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The settlement agreement is not included in the federal court file, and terms of the settlement provide that neither party can publicly disclose the agreement.
The Express filed a public records request on May 6 with the Blaine County Clerk and Recorder's Office in an attempt to find out if taxpayer funds were expended in the settlement. As of press deadline Thursday, the Clerk and Recorder's Office had not responded to the request.
The Express has been unable to confirm reports that the settlement was for $75,000, with the county paying half and the county's insurance carrier paying the other half.
Neither Werth nor Ketchum attorney Cynthia Woolley, who represented Bolton, would discuss the settlement with the Express.
Elgee declined to comment, saying, "It didn't involve me."
Bolton is now an assistant U.S. attorney in Spokane, Wash.
"Jill is a wonderful attorney and it's a shame we lost her," Woolley said Thursday. "U.S. attorney—that's a plumb job."
Werth said Bolton's allegations were never proven.
"I wasn't the only party, and it was decided to settle it," Werth said. "I have never discriminated against women."
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Hailey attorney Douglas Werth has accused supporters of Judge Robert J. Elgee of “ugly politics” for trying to use a 10-year-old sexual discrimination lawsuit against him in the election campaign. Photo by David N. Seelig
