The wife of a Hartsel Fire Department chief sued the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in federal court in Denver on Tuesday claiming she was fired after she decided to support her husband while he was under investigation for criminal wrongdoing.
Rebecca Hutcheson was a secretary in the felony division working under District Attorney Molly Chilson when she was fired Feb. 21, 2007.
Hutcheson’s husband, Jay Hutcheson, was entangled in a criminal investigation when a bookkeeper for the Hartsel Fire Department told investigators that she embezzled nearly $90,000 from the department and that Jay Hutcheson was involved, the suit says.
Jay Hutcheson was investigated by a special prosecutor who later cleared him of the charges.
The lawsuit says while Jay Hutcheson was under investigation, Chilson fired Rebecca Hutcheson despite knowing that a special prosecutor would be assigned to the case to prevent a conflict-of-interest.
“Mrs. Hutcheson’s assistance in her husband’s defense would not have interfered with a bona fide occupational requirement that Mrs. Chilson could have imposed since Mrs. Chilson, in fact, sought the appointment of a special prosecutor in the case against Chief Hutcheson,” the suit says.
Hartsel is in Park County in Colorado’s central mountains, west of Colorado Springs.
