[S]pringfield officials have refused to say why the town fired its longtime police chief earlier this month, and now he’s filed a lawsuit saying they haven’t told him either.
Douglas Johnston, a Springfield resident who served about 20 years as the police chief and a total of almost four decades with the department, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit late Thursday afternoon in federal court in Vermont.
“Typically, employees are notified at the time they are terminated as to the reasons why. In this instance, that wasn’t done,” Pietro Lynn, a Burlington attorney representing Johnston, said Friday.
Lynn said the town did not follow proper procedures for terminating his client, and charged in the lawsuit that the municipality’s actions were “flagrant, malicious and intentional” violations of Johnston’s due process rights.
“Here, there’s a statute that requires that there be specific notice of charges against the police chief and an opportunity to litigate the issue in front of the selectboard,” Lynn said. “I have no good explanation for why Springfield decided not to follow the statute.”
While the lawsuit does not reveal a reason for Johnston’s firing, the filing does state that based on “information and belief,” Town Manager Thomas Yennerell didn’t provide a “cogent explanation” for the termination due to “personal animus.”
The lawsuit names the town and Yennerell as defendants.
The town has released little information regarding Johnston’s firing on Feb. 4 beyond a short statement from Yennerell, the town manager.
“Effective Immediately Lieutenant Mark Fountain is the Acting Police Chief at the Springfield Police Department,” the statement from Feb. 4 read. “Doug Johnston has been relieved of his duties.”
The statement added, “This is a very sensitive Human Resource matter and I’m not at liberty to discuss it.”
Kristi Morris, Springfield Selectboard chair, said in an email Friday he had not yet seen the lawsuit and “reached out to the Town Manager for his feedback.”
Yennerell, reached later Friday, declined comment other than a short statement reiterating that it was a “sensitive Human Resources matter and we are not at liberty to comment.”
The statement added, “The Town will retain legal counsel and, if so desired, counsel will speak on our behalf. The Town is focused on moving forward in many areas and we do not intend to deviate from that goal.”
The town is insured through the Vermont League of Cities and Towns.
Lynn said his client is seeking damages for “financial harm,” including lost pay and benefits as a result of his “unlawful” termination. “To the extent that there is embarrassment and emotional harm, we will be seeking that also,” he added.
The attorney said he hasn’t “crunched” the numbers with his client, but he expected the total damages against the town to be “more than half a million dollars.”
As police chief, Johnston had an annual salary of about $87,000.
The lawsuit does not state that Johnston is seeking to be reinstated as police chief.
“That’s something we haven’t yet decided,” Lynn said. “It would be difficult to return to the town where the supervisor who engaged in this unlawful action remains the town manager so that does not appear, at this point, to be a viable option.”
The lawsuit, which Lynn said earlier this month would be coming, stated that no “legitimate indication” had been given at any time that Johnston’s performance was unsatisfactory.
“The chief was never notified that his job was in jeopardy,” Lynn said Friday.
According to the lawsuit, Johnston met with Yennerell on Feb. 4 to try to find out why he was being fired, but they town manager would not provide an explanation.
“In fact,” the lawsuit stated, “Yennerell stated to the Chief that he did not ‘feel comfortable’ about telling the Chief why he was being terminated.”
The complaint later added, “Upon information and belief, the basis for this refusal was a personal animus by Defendant Yennerell.”
The police chief’s firing comes several months after the Eagles Times reported that members of the Springfield Police Benevolent Association voted “no confidence” in Johnston and called on the town to fire him.
The Eagle Times reported that the union wrote in that letter that “moral(e) of the department is at an all-time low. … Chief Johnston has established a pattern of inequitable treatment of department personnel, and utilizes the internal investigation procedures and threat of disciplinary action as a means to intimidate and belittle members of the department and without warrant at times.”
Asked Friday if he believed that no confidence vote played a role in Johnston’s firing, Lynn replied, “There is no way I could speculate as to what the reasons were for his termination. They wouldn’t tell him when they fired him, and I wouldn’t want to speculate.”