The Village of Woodstock and former Police Chief Joe Swanson are battling over whether a state judge should be allowed access to details of a confidential mediation session that was used by the municipality during the recent demotion of the veteran officer.
Attorney Linda Fraas, on behalf of Swanson, filed a motion contesting claims by the Village that the former chief did not participate in private mediation before he initiated his lawsuit contesting his removal as head of the police department.
“Defendants have set forth numerous statements and arguments suggesting that the pre-suit mediation did not address issues relevant to the Defendants’ breach of Plaintiff’s Employment Agreement,” Fraas said in a motion filed this month.
“These statements can be readily disputed,” Fraas wrote, but noted she was blocked by state law, “which prohibits communications made during a mediation proceeding to be used in evidence in any other proceeding.”
Attorney John Klesch, on behalf of the municipal defendants, maintained Swanson gave up the right for that fight due to other filings made in the lawsuit.
“Defendants oppose the motion on the basis that it is moot based on their July 7, 2025 Supplemental Memorandum …such that there is no possible need for the Court to consider authorizing disclosure of mediation communications,” Klesch wrote.
Swanson has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Municipal Manager Eric Duffy, the village and town of Woodstock, and the five individual Village Trustees — Chair Seton McIlroy, Vice Chair Jeffrey Kahn and members Brenda Blakeman, Lisa Lawlor, and Frank Horneck. The one non-municipal defendant is Burgess Loss Prevention Associates of Lebanon, N.H., which conducted an internal investigation for Duffy.
Swanson also has filed a separate legal action in Vermont Superior Court appealing his demotion by Duffy from police chief to patrol officer. Duffy announced earlier this year his intention to demote Swanson, who appealed to the Village Trustees. They held a 14.5-hour marathon hearing on March 19 in the basement of the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department. A month later the board members announced they were backing Duffy in the case.
Judge H. Dickson Corbett, after hearing legal arguments in June, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Village from naming a new police chief after 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 is currently considering whether to extend that order.
For more on this, please see our July 24 edition of the Vermont Standard.
