By Mike Donoghue, Senior Correspondent
A state judge has ruled that a court injunction blocking the Village of Woodstock from replacing newly demoted Police Chief Joe Swanson must remain in place.
Vermont Superior Court Judge H. Dickson Corbett ruled Friday that the five Woodstock Village Trustees — Chair Seton McIlroy, Vice Chair Jeffrey Kahn, and members Brenda Blakeman, Frank Horneck, and Lisa Lawlor — had failed to properly follow the law.
“It appears to the court that the reasoning of the village trustees was erroneous,” Corbett said in his three-page ruling.
“Here, it appears that the village trustees failed to apply the correct legal standard before removing petitioner from the office of police chief,” Corbett wrote.
“Given the strong public interest in ensuring that the municipal officers are removed from tenured office only in accordance with the applicable laws and procedures, the court concludes that a preliminary injunction is needed to prohibit the village from hiring a new police chief while this case is still pending,” he said.
Corbett, after hearing legal arguments in June, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Village from naming a new police chief after Swanson’s lawyer, Linda Fraas, said such a move would create irreparable harm. Woodstock could end up with two police chiefs if the appeal is successful, she said.
Corbett took the issue under consideration, but now has ruled the order will stay in place for the time being. He noted the Village could try to take corrective steps.
Fraas said Swanson needed the injunction to block Municipal Manager Eric Duffy from rushing to promote Sgt. Chris O’Keeffe from acting chief to permanent chief without a recruitment process. She has said Duffy and O’Keeffe conspired to remove Swanson with the idea of placing O’Keeffe in line for the permanent appointment as chief.
Burlington attorney Brian Monaghan, who was hired by the village shortly before the demotion hearing in March to represent the trustees, said Friday afternoon he was unaware of Corbett’s decision when reached by the Standard. Monaghan declined any further comment when told the findings by the judge.
Swanson has filed two legal actions in superior court over his removal as Woodstock Village Police Chief earlier this year. He has appealed the demotion ordered by Duffy and upheld unanimously by the five Village Trustees following a 14½ hour marathon demotion hearing in March.
Swanson also filed a $5 million unlawful discharge lawsuit against several defendants, including Duffy, both the village and town of Woodstock, and the five named Village Trustees.
Swanson, who has spent more than two decades with the department, was demoted to patrol officer – the lowest rank – and assigned to the midnight shift.
It all came after things changed between Duffy and Swanson in the fall of 2024. Three months earlier, Duffy had provided Swanson a positive annual written evaluation.
Attorney Linda Fraas, who represents Swanson, said late Friday afternoon the positive ruling is just one step in the legal process.
McIlroy, the spokesperson for the trustees, and Duffy did not respond to phone or text messages.
Village attorney John H. Klesch, who represented Duffy during the hearing, also did not respond.
Fraas has maintained throughout the case that Swanson never had a chance because Duffy, the five trustees, and their hearing officer, Monaghan, were stacked against the police chief.
The Vermont Standard will update this breaking news story in the next print edition.
