ROCKINGHAM — A civil complaint has been filed in Windham Superior Court against the Rockingham Free Public Library (RFPL) trustees by former library director Célina Houlné.
Houlné, who was terminated as library director on Aug. 29, 2013, seeks reinstatement, compensation for lost income and benefits, and payment for attorneys' fees.
She also seeks unspecified damages as a result of a “hostile work environment” caused by Chair Janice Mitchell-Love and Vice-Chair Deborah Wright, the only two trustees of the nine-member board who were named in the text of the 13-page document.
“We have no comment,” Mitchell-Love wrote, referring The Commons to town attorney Steve Ankuda.
The termination was upheld in October by the trustees in a 5–4 vote following a public appeal hearing held at the former director's request.
In the complaint filed on Jan. 15 by her attorney Richard Bowen, Houlné alleges that Mitchell-Love's and Wright's actions led to her dismissal.
“The logic [behind Houlné's dismissal] is so flawed, it seems like an alternate universe with this,” Bowen said on Tuesday. “Black becomes white, up becomes down.”
The complaint lists three counts against the trustees: violations of the Vermont Open Meeting Law and RFPL by-laws (cited as “proximately result[ing]” in Houlné's dismissal), wrongful discharge, and violation of a “covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”
Both Ankuda and Bowen said that the library and the town will be represented by counsel for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, which provides the municipal insurance coverage.
Bowen said that his client is taking legal recourse for one reason: “a simple focus on getting her job back, a wrong righted.”
“If she had other things in mind, there would be different counts, and individuals would be running to their own lawyers,” he said.
'Hostile work environment'
In the lawsuit, Houlné asserts that her belief that the library building did not need to be closed during the final weeks of the recent renovation and addition was perceived as insubordination by Mitchell-Love and Wright, who also criticized her for discussing her concerns with the press.
She also contends that Mitchell-Love “created a hostile work environment by making unrealistic demands” with “individual-determined directives, such as preparing voluminous financial information, data reports and analysis with deadlines for the information without sufficient time or ability to gather the requested information.”
In her job evaluation, trustees cited Houlné's inability to complete those tasks as examples of sub-par performance.
In contrast, the complaint notes, up until then, trustees had collectively given her “good” or “very good” evaluations.
“At no time prior to May 1, 2013 had there been any discussion(s) of below average job performance of the Plaintiff,” the complaint asserts.
On that date, Wright filed a complaint of “longstanding insubordination and refusal to perform basic duties,” over the previous 18 months that revealed a “pattern of unwillingness to perform and deception of the facts.”
As a result, Houlné was put under a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) which her lawyer described on Tuesday as “an indictment.”
The complaint also alleges that the CAP was implemented in retaliation for the former library director's attempts to follow public policy and comply with the open meeting law.
The complaint alleges that the purpose of the CAP, “as administered by Wright” - the same trustee who lodged the formal complaint - was designed to get Houlné “sacked.”
Houlné's complaint alleges the board did not then follow procedures in the RFPL bylaws for disciplinary action.
Open meeting violations
The lawsuit contends that “Mitchell-Love's violations of Vermont's Open Meeting Law prevented the Plaintiff from performing her job responsibilities and disallowed public participation in the decision to close the Library and to discipline the Librarian,” the complaint says.
“As a direct and proximate result of violations of the Vermont Open Meeting Law, Mitchell-Love controlled communications to other Trustees, preventing open discussion on the operation of RFPL and directed unwarranted criticism at Plaintiff.”
Houlné's complaints allege that the chair “communicated repeatedly with individual trustees via [telephone] and email” and conducted RFPL business “without notice to other members.”
Among other examples, the complaint alleges that Mitchell-Love warned a meeting - one called to revisit the controversial library closing vote - four hours beforehand, “thus depriving the Trustees, the public and the Plaintiff of legal notice.”
As a result, the complaint asserts, three trustees “who were opposed to the closing of the Library were not able to attend and participate in the discussion and vote.”
She also notes in the complaint that the chair “interfered with the trustee secretary's duty to maintain accurate meeting records,” editing and correcting the minutes herself.
In December, following an eight-month investigation, Assistant Attorney General Bill Reynolds ruled that Mitchell-Love had violated open meeting law on numerous occasions, though he did not find proof of her intent to do so. In his ruling, he recommended that she educate herself about those laws.
The complaint also alleges that Mitchell-Love unilaterally ordered Houlné to instruct the attorney to “cease investigating the need to require Baybutt to provide lien waivers from its subcontractors.”
Baybutt filed for bankruptcy during the library's renovation, leaving subcontractors unpaid.
“[Mitchell-Love] stopped that process by herself, causing people a lot of pain, suffering, and money needlessly,” Bowen said.
The lawsuit alleges that “Mitchell-Love created a hostile work environment by placing blame on the Plaintiff for the Baybutt scandal.”
Trustees' election in March
On Tuesday, Bowen said that the problems for Houlné escalated after the annual town elections last March, when voters put on the library board two candidates who were recruited by Mitchell-Love and Wright, “chosen specifically to eliminate [Houlné's] position, reduce the position, or fire Célina.”
“All of this started with that vote,” he said.
And, he added, with four seats up for grabs in the annual town election on March 4, it can end with one, too.
Noting that “a lot of people in town are working to promote candidates who can unify this board and apply logic,” Bowen said that changes in the board could resolve the legal action.
“If the town wants to resolve this lawsuit, they can resolve it in a heartbeat,” he said.