The former top general in the Utah National Guard is suing the state’s Governor, the guard, and other officials, claiming he was forced to retire after being demoted three ranks over an accusation he calls “patently false.”
The Army demoted Maj. Gen. Michael J. Turley to lieutenant colonel when he retired this month, a service official confirmed this week, after an Army Inspector General investigation substantiated an allegation of an inappropriate relationship.
“He will retire as a Lieutenant Colonel (O-5/L TC), which was determined the last grade in which he honorably served,” Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith said at the time. “We consider this matter closed.”
Turley, though, claims in a lawsuit filed last week that both the Army Inspector General and Utah officials did not interview the soldier with whom he allegedly had the relationship prior to drawing their conclusions. He also cites a second investigation by Utah officials that found “no basis” in accusations of improper conduct.
“When interviewed, that soldier, like General Turley, adamantly denied any sexual misconduct and submitted a detailed sworn affidavit indicating as much,” according to the lawsuit, which Task & Purpose obtained through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER system.
Turley filed the lawsuit Aug, 15 against the Utah National Guard, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, and other individuals in both state and federal courts. The Salt Lake Tribune first reported Turley’s lawsuit Tuesday.
On Thursday, Smith said she could not discuss the matter due to ongoing litigation.
Turley’s attorney in the lawsuit, Matthew Lewis, declined to provide any additional information about the lawsuit.
“General Turley plans to continue to avail himself of all possible legal and administrative remedies to correct injustice and error,” Lewis told Task & Purpose on Thursday.
Four years of investigations
The lawsuit is the latest chapter in a series of investigations and accusations that began in 2021, when the Army began looking into an allegation of misconduct by Turley.
In Aug. 2023, Gov. Cox announced that Turley was being investigated by the Army Inspector General and had been placed on paid administrative leave. Days later, the governor issued a separate announcement that Turley had decided to retire, and Cox had appointed a new adjutant general for the Utah National Guard.
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In his lawsuit, Turley claims that when Cox announced his retirement, he was actually being “improperly terminated.” He was fired, the lawsuit claims, when Utah state officials learned that USA Today planned to report that the Army Inspector General had substantiated an allegation of misconduct against Turley, even though none of those officials had a copy of the investigation at the time.
Turley also claims a second investigation of him, led by state officials in Utah rather than the Army, found “no basis” to believe Turley had acted improperly.
That investigation was launched by Utah’s Division of Human Resources in September 2022 after news media outlets first reported the Army investigation and after the governor’s office received anonymous tips of similar accusations.
When that investigation was completed, state HR director John Barrand wrote in a statement that the review had not uncovered any “actionable information” about the allegations against Turley, and there was “no basis to find that the Adjutant General has engaged in inappropriate conduct,” the lawsuit says.
But when Barrand and Jon Pierpont, the governor’s chief of staff, told Turley about the pending USA Today story, Turley offered to be a “good soldier” and resign under certain conditions, even though he continued to deny all allegations against him.
Barrand subsequently told Turley that he had 90 minutes to either resign or be fired, and that prompted Turley to submit a conditional letter of resignation effective on Sept. 16, 2023, the lawsuit says. State officials then immediately replaced Turley as the Utah National Guard’s adjutant general, the lawsuit claims.
Shortly afterward, Turley received a redacted copy of the Army Inspector General investigation, and Turley “knew that he would be able to demonstrate” that the substantiated allegation against him was false, according to the lawsuit. Turley attempted to rescind his resignation on Sept. 15, 2023, but Barrand did not allow him to do so.
Turley claims his reputation has suffered “immeasurable damage” due to the actions of the Utah officials. He also claims in his lawsuit that the officials listed as defendants have “taken steps to improperly influence the Department of the Army’s Grade Determination Review Board, which reduced General Turley’s rank and grade for purposes of calculating his retirement pay, without basis.”
There is no specifics in the lawsuit elaborating on the alledged interference by Utah officials with the review board that retired Turley as a lieutenant colonel, three ranks beneath Maj. Gen., the grade he held as the head of the Utah Guard.
When asked on Thursday about Turley’s lawsuit and the Army’s decision to reduce him from major general to lieutenant colonel, Cox declined to comment.
“Sadly, because there is a lawsuit, I can’t talk about that one,” Cox said during a news conference.
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