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BLUFFDALE — A city councilman has sued Bluffdale Mayor Natalie Hall, accusing her and her husband of threatening and harassing him while he was running for mayor in 2021.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Utah's 3rd District Court, Councilman Jeffrey Gaston says Hall and her husband, Jason Hall, were involved in sending threatening communications to him and claims Jason Hall assaulted him with campaign signs at a city event the same year. Gaston was elected to the City Council and took office in January of 2020.
Jason Hall is already facing criminal charges based on the same allegations. He was charged in June of 2022 with threatening an elected official, stalking and making threats to influence public action. A judge in February ordered him to stand trial on those charges and a trial is scheduled for December.
In the lawsuit, Gaston accuses Natalie and Jason Hall, Woodcraft Mill and Cabinet, and George Schliesser of civil assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy, saying the threats made him fear for his life. He also accused Jason Hall of battery for allegedly attacking him with the campaign signs and Natalie Hall of painting him in a false light when she publicly disputed his claims.
Trinity Jordan, an attorney for the defendants, told KSL.com that his clients "look forward to setting the record straight," and called the claims "meritless" saying that they appear to be "politically motivated."
Attorney Scott Sackett, who is representing Gaston, declined to comment for this story.
Lawsuit allegations
Beginning on March 5, 2021, Gaston alleges he received a series of threatening communications in the form of emails and packages. The communications often insinuated that Gaston would be killed or should take his own life if he refused to end his mayoral campaign, according to court documents.
Gaston said he received a package on March 9, 2021, calling him an "imbecile," along with statements saying, "This is your final warning. We are moving to the next phase. Do what we ask, or we will do what must be done."
On March 24, 2021, Gaston was allegedly given a letter addressed to the Bluffdale city clerk, which read, "You will no longer have the will to live in Bluffdale. It's time we put you down like the dog you are, not a statesman."
Out of fear for his safety, Gaston ended his mayoral campaign, but he alleges the threats continued after he began supporting Natalie Hall's opponent, John Roberts, for mayor. Another package sent to his home on Nov. 23, 2021, urged him to "leave Bluffdale or resign. If you don't you will end up dead," the lawsuit says. Gaston said he and his partner were constantly afraid to return home because of the threats.
Gaston said he rented a booth at the Bluffdale Old West Days celebration in August of 2021 to promote Roberts' mayoral campaign. He was unaware beforehand that the booth was adjacent to Natalie Hall's booth.
As he was setting up signs around his booth, Gaston was approached by Jason Hall, who began to "act erratic" and curse at him, calling him "pathetic," according to the complaint. Gaston retreated from his booth, but he alleges Jason Hall followed him and threw campaign signs at him which struck his hands, arms and face.
Jason Hall attempted to apologize for the attack afterward, and "indicated that the attack was the result of Gaston's communication to Bluffdale's city attorney regarding complaints received from citizens and city employees about Mrs. Hall," the lawsuit states.
He reported the threats to law enforcement, and the complaint alleges that the packages and emails were "packaged, created, or written by defendants," although Gaston didn't learn the origin of the threats until November of 2021. Jason Hall is an owner of Woodcraft, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Schliesser, a Woodcraft employee, was "instructed by Woodcraft to deliver the packages and communications" during his normal work hours, the lawsuit says. He was aware of the content of the packages and hand delivered a number of them to Gaston's residence at the direction of the Halls, according to the complaint.
Gaston says Natalie Hall later denied the allegations against her husband and said the attack never occurred during a July 2022 City Council meeting. Natalie Hall "knew that her statements were false," the lawsuit claims.
It alleges the Halls' actions "were willful and malicious," and says the various accusations have hurt Gaston's political career and caused "severe emotional distress and mental anguish."
Neither side had responded to the initial complaint as of Tuesday afternoon, and the case has yet to be scheduled.
