A legislative impeachment committee voted to halt an investigation into the Franklin County state’s attorney after he submitted a resignation letter earlier this week.
The committee had been considering whether to recommend impeaching the state’s attorney, John Lavoie, after an investigation by the Vermont Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs found that he had harassed and discriminated against employees and created a hostile work environment.
But now that he plans to resign at the end of the month, lawmakers determined the question of impeachment is a moot point.
“Because Mr. Lavoie has chosen to resign, the Special Committee finds that it would not be in the best interests of the State to impose additional burdens and stress on witnesses, nor to expend additional State resources involved in continuing the investigation,” the committee said in a report issued Friday afternoon.
The seven-member committee voted unanimously Friday to drop the investigation and recommend the Legislature take no action regarding Lavoie.
“It’s a huge relief to the people of Franklin County and, I think, my fellow committee members, that we can consider this matter resolved by the resignation,” said Rep. Mike McCarthy, D-St. Albans, the committee’s co-chair.
The committee is still continuing to examine the case of Franklin County Sheriff John Grismore, who has been charged with simple assault after video emerged showing him kicking a man held in custody. He has pleaded not guilty. Grismore is also being investigated by state police over allegations of financial impropriety.
But Friday’s decision puts an end to the committee’s work with regard to Lavoie.
Officials have pressured Lavoie to step down since May, when an investigation found that he had created a hostile and discriminatory work environment for his employees. Lavoie had repeatedly made belittling comments about women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people and other groups, the investigation found, and had touched employees without their consent.
In total, investigators alleged, the actions had created a toxic work environment.
Lavoie had rebuffed calls to resign before reversing course on Tuesday, when he submitted a letter of resignation. He did not return a phone call from VTDigger on Friday afternoon.
His decision to resign came roughly a week after the committee finished interviewing witnesses in the case. Lawmakers said Friday that they interviewed 31 witnesses during their investigation, including Lavoie.
“There was emotional testimony,” the committee’s chair, Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, told reporters after Friday’s meeting. “Some of the testimony was very difficult.”
The special committee has been meeting since May to consider whether or not to impeach both Lavoie and Grismore. The committee has yet to recommend any actions regarding Grismore, and a report by a law firm on the allegations against him is expected in October.
The conclusion of the probe “frees up our time, as the committee, to really be able to focus on that matter,” LaLonde said, referring to Grismore. “And it frees up the Legislature from having to come to the Statehouse to vote on articles of impeachment — if that was where we ended up.”
In a brief statement Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Gov. Phil Scott wrote that Lavoie’s resignation would bring greater stability to the state’s attorney’s office “and allow the people of Franklin County to put this unfortunate chapter behind them.”
Scott will now begin soliciting recommendations from the Franklin County Democratic committee for who should replace Lavoie, according to Jason Maulucci, the governor’s spokesperson. Maulucci estimated it would be at least a month before replacement candidates get interviewed and one of those people is appointed by the governor.
Shaun Robinson contributed reporting.
