Miller Lawsuit Against Borough Possibly Settled

Miller’s attorney calls case “politically motivated”

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By KTVA CBS 11 News
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Story Created: Jun 20, 2012 at 10:26 AM AKDT

Story Updated: Jun 20, 2012 at 3:30 PM AKDT

ALASKA - Joe Miller's lawsuit against his former employer may now be over.

Miller appears about to settle with the Fairbanks North Star Borough and its former mayor, Jim Whitaker.

The former senate candidate sued the borough and Whitaker, claiming they illegally released his personnel records to the media.

Several media organizations asked for the records from when Miller worked as a borough attorney and was disciplined for allegedly improperly using his government email account in 2008.

In a press release Tuesday, Miller's attorney, John Tiemessen, calls the $5,000 "order of judgement"* important because it sets the record straight – that the borough should not have released the records.

Tiemessen calls the borough's motives "politically motivated."

The borough says it only settled to get rid of what it calls a "nuisance suit."

"…As a compromise to end what I find as a basically frivolous court challenge to what the borough has always done to protect Miller's right – done that right from the start as he supposedly claimed that we leaked something,” said Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins.

Each side will pay its own legal costs. Miller says he did not use any campaign donations for the suit.

*Originally this story stated the legal proceeding was a settlement, rather than an order of judgment; KTVA apologizes for the mistake.

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