When a Lamoille County judge ruled that Johnson village’s former Water and Light Department foreman Troy Dolan’s resignation letter should be made public, he also made the village liable for the legal costs incurred by the News & Citizen, which sued the village after it withheld the document.
Last week, the court determined that the village was responsible for $12,049.88 in reasonable attorney’s fees and other litigation costs.
So far, the village’s fight to not release the letter has cost $1,415, according to village clerk Rosemary Audibert, though she acknowledged the village has only been billed through June.
The village has spent another $4,735 on a complaint of unfair labor practices filed with the Vermont Department of Labor by Dolan against sitting village trustee Diane Lehouiller.
Dolan resigned in protest last March after saying he feared for his safety following the union mandated return to work of lineman Paul Stankiewicz. The resignation letter, which the village refused to make public until they were legally obliged to, revealed new allegations regarding an incident that Dolan believed was a direct threat of violence, which Stankiewicz has denied.
Dolan returned to the village on a contractual basis following his resignation and remains in the village’s employment.
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