Edward Adams and the union representing him are seeking to join the fight to block the public release of documents related to his demotion as the head of Vermont’s largest prison.

VTDigger has been battling with the state for nearly a year and a half over the release of the records. And the Agency of Human Services, which oversees the Vermont Department of Corrections, appeared poised to reverse course after keeping the documents under wraps.

Mike Smith, AHS secretary, recently notified Adams in a letter that he planned to release the records to VTDigger, which sued the state to get them. Adams and the Vermont State Employees’ Association then jumped in last week to intervene in the case.

Adams and the union are calling on Judge Timothy Tomasi, who is presiding over the public records lawsuit, to allow them to join the case and keep the records from being released.

Adams’ filing contends that because of recent changes in leadership at the Agency of Human Services and the Vermont Department of Corrections, the state is no longer representing his interests in the case.

Smith took over as AHS secretary in October. Michael Touchette, who had been corrections commissioner, resigned last month amid the fallout from an investigation by Seven Days detailing misconduct allegations among corrections staff. James Baker, a former state police director, is currently serving as interim corrections commissioner. 

“Subsequent to the initial request for information, the State has endured considerable scrutiny regarding the operations of the Department of Corrections,” says the filing submitted on Adams’ behalf. 

“New administrators,” the filing adds, “appear to view disclosure of records during Adams’s tenure as helpful to address and detract attention from this political controversy.”

The filing calls the allegations against Adams “unfounded” and says, if publicly released, they “are certain to stigmatize him.” 

The court action by the union is the latest legal twist in the case filed by Vermont Journalism Trust, the parent organization of VTDigger, as it seeks to uncover what prompted Adams’ removal as the superintendent of the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.

“I think the question is, does he have some independent right apart from the government to assert exemptions under the Public Records Act?” attorney Steve Coteus, representing VTDigger, said of Adams. 

“This particular type of procedural posture doesn’t seem to have any precedent for Vermont,” said Coteus, a lawyer at the Montpelier law firm Tarrant, Gillies & Richardson.

“The Public Records Act is set up as an adversarial process between the government and a member of the public if someone requests records,” Coteus said. “It doesn’t have provisions for a third party who may be affected by the release of records to step in and join the litigation.”

Adams did not respond to an email message seeking comment.  

Despite no longer being the superintendent of the Springfield prison, Adams is still employed in the corrections department as a probation officer making at least $45 an hour, according to a settlement agreement the state provided to VTDigger last month in response to the lawsuit. 

However, the records provided by the state to the news organization were heavily redacted and revealed only that an investigation took place into employee “allegations,” without describing the nature of those claims. 

The news organization is pressing ahead in its public records lawsuit to obtain additional documents and information about Adams’ dismissal at the top official at Springfield prison. 

Adams also served as the superintendent of Chittenden Regional Corrections Facility for 18 months before moving to Southern State in January 2016. 

While at CRCF, the Burlington Free Press has reported Adams was accused by a female corrections officer of creating a hostile work environment by making sexually inappropriate comments and other types of sexual harassment. 

That corrections officer also alleged “DOC has a pattern and practice of promoting known harassers and otherwise engaging in conduct that promotes harassment, and discourages harassment victims from coming forward.” 

Last month, Seven Days reported on the allegations of drug use and sexual misconduct at CRCF, the state’s only women’s prison. The allegations raised in the report included the time Adams spent there as superintendent. 

Smith wrote a letter to Adams on Jan. 9 informing him that he intended to release the documents sought in the public records lawsuit to VTDigger on Jan. 14.

Smith, in explaining his rationale, wrote to Adams that the Vermont Supreme Court has ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Rutland Herald newspaper against Rutland City that a balancing test is required between privacy and public interests when determining whether to release such records.

“The State’s position regarding these requests has been guided by its determination that your privacy interest has outweighed the public interest,” Smith wrote.

“As I am sure you are aware, the significance of the public’s interest in the disclosure of these documents has increased substantially in recent weeks,” the secretary added, referring to the recent reports of abuse in the prison system. 

“As the Agency Secretary responsible for the Department of Corrections,” Smith wrote, “I have made a determination, after consulting with the Agency of Administration and the Department of Human Resources, that given the increased significance of the public interest in the disclosure of these documents, the balance has now tipped in favor of public disclosure.”

The filing to intervene in the case by the union on Adams’ behalf highlights the ongoing clash between VSEA and Smith following the reporting of misconduct by staff at the women’s prison. 

Since the reports, Smith has initiated an independent investigation into the allegations, is urging the Legislature to require drug testing of corrections staff, and is calling for an end of secret agreements with state employees who have been found to have committed wrongdoing. 

The union has said Smith’s proposals trample on the rights of corrections staff instead of focusing on the mismanagement of the prison system. 

Smith said this week there are only “limited things I can say right now” about the public records case since it remains pending. “He declined to release the documents on his own, so I sent a letter to him and that triggered the litigation,” Smith said of Adams.

“This was my decision,” Smith said, adding that the Attorney General’s Office, which is representing the state in the case, has not objected. 

Attorney General TJ Donovan, whose office is representing the state in the case, issued a statement in response to questions about the latest filings.

“This is an ongoing matter,” Donovan said in the statement. “The Vermont Superior Court is the appropriate forum in which these questions should be addressed.”

Smith said he didn’t expect much to be redacted from the documents if he is permitted to release them.

“The only thing that would be redacted would be the people who filed the complaints,” he said.  “I don’t think it’s fair for people who have complained to be to have their names released.”

Steve Howard, VSEA executive director, initially referred questions to the court document when asked about the VSEA filing on behalf of Adams.

However, when pressed further he said that believed personnel records are confidential and he didn’t want to see a precedent set allowing for their release. 

Asked if there were any scenarios in which such records should be publicly released, Howard replied, “I can’t speculate.” 

The parties in the case are now awaiting word on whether Adams and the union will be permitted to intervene. 

If Adams and the union are allowed to intervene, the question then likely turns to whether a judge will approve the release of the documents requested, this time with the news organization battling the union and Adams instead of the state.

VTDigger originally sought the records pertaining to complaints against Adams in September 2018.