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Utovich says she tried to rescind resignation
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Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann
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Jessia Utovich
Marc Dann’s former office employee is ‘seeking legal representation.’
Then-Attorney General Marc Dann persuaded his scheduler, with whom he had an extramarital affair, to rescind her May 1 resignation.
So when Jessica Utovich heard that her resignation was publicly announced May 2, she was surprised and disappointed, according to an e-mail she sent to Dann and other top officials in the attorney general’s office.
That e-mail from Utovich was among documents released Friday by the attorney general’s office related to her resignation.
Reached Friday on her cell phone, Utovich said, “I’m not sure how things will work out, but I’m seeking legal representation.”
Ted Hart, the attorney general’s deputy communications director, had no comment about Utovich’s resignation.
Utovich sent a letter of resignation May 1 to four top officials, including Dann. The resignation was effective May 8.
Later that day, Thomas R. Winters accepted her resignation. Winters is the first assistant attorney general given the authority of the attorney general after Dann’s Wednesday resignation.
Utovich wrote in the May 2 e-mail that she changed her mind about resigning only hours after writing the letter a day earlier. She did so “after talking with various members of the office — including Marc, who expressed that he did not want me to resign.”
Utovich wrote that Dann agreed to rescind her resignation May 1, and that he told her she would still have a job. Dann told her he would inform Winters about that decision and it wouldn’t be a problem.
Winters announced Utovich’s resignation at a May 2 press conference related to a damaging internal AG investigation.
The investigation report described the office as being run unprofessionally, and it led to the firing of two top attorney general officials and the forced resignation of another.
During a press conference to discuss the findings, Dann, who is married, admitted he had an affair with a staffer. Later that day, he told The Vindicator the woman in question was Utovich.
With an investigation by the Ohio inspector general commencing and Democrats bringing articles of impeachment against him, Dann resigned Wednesday.
Utovich wrote in the May 2 e-mail that “finding out that I no longer had a job during today’s press conference was beyond disappointing since I have strived to support the administration, regardless of circumstances, to the best of my abilities.”
In a May 7 e-mail, Paula L. Paoletti, the interim chief of policy and administration, wrote that after talking with various officials, she concluded Utovich’s resignation was accepted upon its receipt.
“I am appalled by the treatment shown to me, as over the past [five] months, I have been nothing but loyal and a hard worker,” Utovich wrote back 81 minutes after receiving Paoletti’s e-mail. “I’m not proud of my actions in my personal life, but do not deserve to be retaliated for them by the office.”
skolnick@vindy.com