Federal Lawsuit Alleges Wrongful Accusations by Former Utah Attorney General’s Office Caused Profound Harm to Rubicon Employees
A new and significant development in the ongoing legal battle surrounding the 2023 investigation into Rubicon has emerged: multiple employees of the company have filed a federal Complaint against high-ranking officials within the former Utah Office of the Attorney General (AGO), including former Attorney General Sean D. Reyes, former Chief Investigator Leo Lucey, investigator Michael Jeter, and lead prosecutor Kaytlin Beckett.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, the Complaint alleges that these officials engaged in a campaign of wrongful accusations and prosecutorial overreach during the investigation into Rubicon’s operations. The employees claim they were publicly and permanently linked to manufactured criminal allegations that were later definitively dismissed by a state court, resulting in widespread and long-lasting damage to their personal reputations, professional careers, and emotional well-being.
The Human Cost of Public Allegation
This latest filing follows a separate federal action brought in October by Rubicon, its parent company Scandia, and founders Jena and Rudy Larsen. While the company’s initial lawsuit targeted the alleged misuse of sworn testimony, improper reliance on incomplete documents, and structural prosecutorial overreach, the employees’ Complaint focuses squarely on the devastating human impact of the state’s actions.
The crux of the employees’ argument is that the AGO pursued a damaging narrative through the media that the state could not substantiate with evidence in a court of law.
Dario Benitez, one of the Rubicon employees who filed the Complaint, emphasized the need for accountability beyond simply having the charges dropped. “Every person has the right to be judged on facts—not headlines,” Benitez stated. “Our careers, reputations, and families were affected in ways that can’t simply be undone by a dismissal. This filing is about setting the record straight and ensuring that the human impact of these decisions is acknowledged and addressed. No one should be tried in the press before they are heard in court.”
Allegations of Improper State Conduct
According to the detailed filing, the actions of the state officials that led to the employees’ harm included:
- Premature Public Association: Officials are accused of publicly associating the employees with serious criminal conduct, including human trafficking allegations, before sufficient evidence had been reviewed or validated by the court.
- Mischaracterization of Documents: The Complaint alleges that state officials improperly characterized routine administrative and employment documentation as evidence of significant criminal wrongdoing, skewing the public and judicial perception of the company’s operations.
- Coordinated Media Amplification: The AGO is cited for amplifying the unsupported allegations through deliberate media statements and coordinated public messaging, which ensured the sensational accusations dominated news coverage.
- Persistent Harm: The lawsuit contends that these actions caused ongoing and severe emotional distress, catastrophic reputational damage, and economic harm, which persisted long after the criminal charges were officially dismissed.
Seeking Compensation and Safeguards
The employees are seeking several forms of relief through the federal action, not only to be compensated for the damages inflicted but also to ensure a similar misuse of state power does not occur again. Specifically, the employees seek:
- Compensation for significant reputational, emotional, and financial damages.
- A declaratory judgment to officially correct the public record regarding the allegations.
- The establishment of safeguards to prevent similar improper use of state prosecutorial and investigative authority in the future.
Scott Bennion, an employee at Scandia, Rubicon’s parent company, reiterated the long-term goal of the filing. “The goal of this filing is to correct the record and us as individuals to move forward with our lives,” he said. “When accusations are made without the evidence to support them, the impact does not simply disappear. Restoring accuracy is part of restoring trust.”
The lawsuit signals that the individuals affected are determined to hold the former Attorney General’s Office accountable for the alleged fabrication of claims and the subsequent public harm, marking a deepening of the legal scrutiny facing the Utah AGO’s past investigation tactics.
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