A Vermont Superior Court judge heard legal arguments on Tuesday concerning whether the Village of Woodstock and municipal manager Eric Duffy were justified in demoting police chief Joe Swanson to patrol officer.
Judge Kerry Ann McDonald-Cady said at the conclusion of the three-hour hearing that she would like to rule promptly, but noted by the nature of the complex case that it might take as much as 90 days — a self-imposed deadline she gives herself in major cases.
“It’s not something that will be done in a week,” McDonald-Cady said about her expected decision, which will be provided in writing. “It’s a big project for the court,” the former state prosecutor said.
In Swanson’s first appeal last year, Judge H. Dickson Corbett overturned the March 2025 Woodstock Trustees’ demotion ruling. Tuesday’s hearing is an appeal of the second hearing held in March of this year by the trustees, in which they once again ruled to demote Swanson.
It is likely that the losing side, no matter who, will appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court.
Burlington lawyer John Klesch, who is representing Duffy and the village, said Tuesday after the hearing that he was pleased with the way the arguments went, and now it is a matter of waiting for the written decision.
Swanson’s lawyer, Linda Fraas, said she also was pleased with how the hearing played out and the objections she voiced over the village’s arguments.
“As discussed in the hearing, the village has told the court that even if the court finds violations of contract, violations of statute, or other unlawful acts, the court should not disturb the judgment of manager Duffy and the trustees regarding the removal of Chief Swanson,” she said.
She added, “We are pleased that the court ruled that the village cannot introduce new accusations to further its goal, including the allegation that Chief Swanson is somehow unfit due to his work-related spine surgery from which he is still recovering. We believe the evidence supports a reversal of the second unlawful demotion and look forward to the court’s ruling.”
During her nearly one hour of arguments, Fraas focused partly on the lack of due process and discrimination that she said Swanson has seen in the case.
Fraas noted that Swanson has faced discrimination throughout the case. She said Swanson was unable to attend the recent demotion hearing by the village trustees due to the spine surgery, and was denied his request for a delay by hearing officer Brian Monaghan.
Fraas focused in part on three village trustees that she said had apparent conflicts of interest, but refused to step aside.
Klesch hammered away at what he said was egregious conduct by Swanson. He said much has been made about Swanson wearing non-matching socks, having a messy office, getting his haircut on village time, and not telling dispatchers where he was going at times, but there were other issues.
He also disputed claims by Fraas that “everything was decided in advance.”
Klesch maintained the Swanson appeal was based on “a lot of suppositions.” He said the burden of proof was on Swanson to prove his claims.
Klesch said in the end, the village had shown there was cause for Swanson’s removal.
The village trustees voted 5-0 earlier this year to support Duffy’s decision to demote the chief. Swanson appealed the demotion as groundless.
For our full story on this, please see our July 2 edition of the Vermont Standard.
