Woodstock officials violated the legal contract the village had with Police Chief Joe Swanson when he was unlawfully removed and demoted to a patrol officer in April, according to the latest court filing to try to get him restored as police chief.
Attorney Linda Fraas, on behalf of Swanson, filed a 21-page legal brief on Monday in Vermont Superior Court seeking to get a preliminary injunction extended to block the village from permanently replacing him as chief.
Judge H. Dickson Corbett had issued the preliminary injunction a week earlier blocking the hiring or appointing of a police chief and gave both sides time to file more legal arguments. Corbett said he needed more information before he could rule on whether Swanson had been improperly removed by municipal manager Eric Duffy and the five village trustees.
Now, lawyers John Klesch and Matt Bloomer on behalf of the village have until next Monday to file a written response in superior court. The Vermont Standard reached out to Klesch and Bloomer this week to see if they wished to contest the filing by Fraas, but neither responded.
Fraas sought the preliminary injunction on the grounds that Swanson would have irreparable harm with the hiring of a new police chief. The village could end up having two police chiefs for one seat if Swanson is successful in his legal fight.
Swanson has taken two legal actions against the village and officials. One is he has appealed to Vermont Superior Court his demotion imposed by Duffy — and later supported by the five trustees after a hearing — from police chief to patrol officer.
Swanson has also filed a $5 million lawsuit against Duffy, the five trustees, the village, the town and a private detective firm that did an internal investigation. Swanson later petitioned the court to add O’Keeffe to the lawsuit on the grounds he colluded with Duffy. That request is still pending.
Duffy has said he had lost faith in Swanson, who he hired after a nationwide search to run the village police department in July 2023. The demotion came just months after Duffy had given Swanson a positive written annual review in July 2024.
The demotion came after Swanson was placed on paid leave in October 2024 for an off-duty incident involving his husband in a traffic incident. Duffy asked both the Vermont State Police and the Vermont Criminal Justice Council to investigate Swanson and both cleared him of any possible wrongdoing.
Duffy hired a private detective to interview village police department employees and the town’s emergency dispatchers to review Swanson’s performance. Many employees were critical in the report by Private Investigator William Burgess and Duffy used it as the basis for trying to demote the chief.
Duffy also cited no confidence votes by both the village police union and town dispatchers union. Several said they would leave if Swanson returned as chief.
After the trustees ruled, Swanson’s defense team submitted a series of letters from police officers and dispatchers that said they would not leave if the chief returned.
Duffy and Klesch were reluctant when asked by the judge last week if the village was willing to hold off naming a replacement chief. They eventually agreed, but made clear they were not happy.
“The village is concerned that it presents some difficulties, but is willing to certainly follow the court’s lead on it,” Klesch said.
Judge Corbett, at the end of the hearing, told the village it needed to hold off on an appointment for at least a couple of weeks as the legal process played out.
At the hearing, Fraas did tell the court that Swanson would not block the village for naming a new patrol sergeant because there would not be irreparable harm. However, she warned Woodstock could end up with two sergeants if Swanson wins back the chief’s job and O’Keeffe has to go back to his old post as a patrol sergeant and a new hire was made.
The Vermont Standard has learned that the village is considering hiring a longtime Vermont State Police trooper, who can now retire, to be the new patrol sergeant.
