Stowe officials ponder sexual misconduct policies

Despite the woman going public with her story, Walker has repeatedly denied the allegations and the prosecutor in charge of the case declined to pursue criminal charges.

Helping the board Monday as it navigated the thicket of contracts, unions, policies and other legalese was attorney Kerin Stackpole, who said she’s assisted in internal investigations for municipalities for 30 years.

Stowe resident George Gay told the selectbord there was only one reason he came to the meeting — and only one reason attorney Stackpole was there, too — and it wasn’t because policy changes just happened to be on the agenda as a matter of general business.

“Because Kyle Walker is still our fire chief,” Gay said. (Gay is married to Lisa Hagerty, a member of the Stowe Selectboard.)

Stackpole declined to talk about any specific employees, saying there’s a reason why those types of talks happen in executive sessions, without the public able to listen in.

Stackpole said sexual misconduct is not specifically defined in Stowe’s employee policies or contracts, although sexual harassment is. The latter includes things like lewd, abusive, impolite or otherwise boorish behavior, while more violent or aggressive acts would be covered in other parts of personnel policies.

“If I were to think generally about sexual misconduct, any one of those types of things would, in fact, cover that kind of behavior, which is not to say you couldn’t call it out specifically,” Stackpole said.

Hagerty called those catch-all clauses “pretty low bars. It would be sad if we had to go further, but we might have to.”

Selectboard chair Billy Adams asked how municipalities can improve access for victims so they can be heard.

“How do we make sure that they are able to feel comfortable to report accurately and effectively, so that the punishment can be administered?” Adams asked.

Stackpole said regular training is necessary for every employee, at least twice a year.

When it comes to internal investigations, towns can bring in somebody from outside. Stackpole said she’s currently involved in three investigations for three different entities.

Hagerty said an alleged victim in a sexual misconduct case often gets discredited by people who bring up a person’s past, “whatever it is that they want to conjure up to describe a victim.”

On the other hand, she said, the person who has been accused of sexual misconduct tends to be scrutinized on a much narrower set of criteria, such as whether an incident is a crime or whether it breaks a specific policy.

“In making it safe for victims, we need to look as broadly to the potential perpetrator as we look to the victim,” or narrow the scope for both victim and perpetrator, Hagerty said. “Somehow it needs to feel safe for people to come forward and not just get ripped apart.”

Stackpole said she’s been doing investigations for 30 years and always looks at both sides.

“I always look at the credibility of the person making the complaint and the person who’s saying they didn’t do it,” she said.

Personnel matters

Board member Nick Donza wondered what kind of control the board has when it comes to town employees. Stackpole was adamant the selectboard stay out of personnel matters, whether because of perceived conflicts of interest or other things that might hamper impartiality.

“It is unusual and, I would suggest, not recommended at all, that elected officials get involved in personnel matters,” she said.

The meeting included lots of discussion about types of protections for employees, such as whether they belong to a union. Stowe police, fire, EMS, public works and town office employees are all unionized.

Department heads, however, are not members of unions, nor do they sign a contract. Town Manager Charles Safford said he’s the only employee with a contract, and it’s a perpetual contract, which means he can be terminated for cause.

All other department heads are considered at will, meaning they “can leave at any time for any lawful reason or for no reason at all,” Stackpole said.

Stackpole said it’s not uncommon for a municipality the size of Stowe — 63 full-time employees, not counting volunteers, according to Safford — to bring on a human resources person to assist managers in the handling of HR matters. She said, however, that Safford has “a good eye, better than a number of people” she’s worked with, for catching employee misconduct.

During the two-hour discussion, specific employees were rarely brought up, other than when Gay invoked Walker.

Hagerty, however, was specific with a suggestion for an addition to the personnel policy.

“How about sexual activity of any nature while on duty is prohibited?” Hagerty said.