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UTA opts not to appeal ruling that it illegally fired a whistleblower who raised safety warnings even though it disagrees with the finding

The Utah Transit Authority said Wednesday that it will not appeal a federal ruling that it illegally fired a whistleblower for warning the agency that it was violating safety rules.

That worker, J. Michael Clara, said UTA cut corners to speed work on bus stop amenities as it tried to generate positive publicity just before the 2015 Proposition 1 vote on whether to raise transit taxes. UTA has denied that, and the judge said there wasn’t enough evidence to sustain the claimed connection to the election.

However, the administrative law judge for the U.