Johnson village foreman resigns following threats

“In order to protect my safety and well-being, as well as the safety and well-being of my family, I felt my only option was to resign my position as foreman for the village. While I feel I am unfairly shouldering the burden of others’ inappropriate behavior, my family and I are ready to move forward in a positive direction.”

Meredith Dolan, who is married to Troy, also terminated her contract as a consultant manager with the village of Johnson effective March 13. She declined to give a reason in an email informing the village of her departure and did not return a request for comment.

Meredith officially resigned from her former position as village manager last June, a month after Troy said he and his family began receiving threats. At the time she simply said it was “the right time” to move on.

After her June resignation, Meredith continued to work for the village as a consultant until earlier this month.

While Dolan did not specify who he believed had been repeatedly threatening his family, a public meeting held just weeks before he resigned saw him and other lineman employed by the village publicly expressing their fear and distrust of another lineman, Paul Stankiewicz.

On Feb. 23, village employees were invited to publicly “share their thoughts” on Stankiewicz’s return to work at a village trustees meeting.

Though no context was given for this discussion, a union arbitration agreement mandated his return to work for the village-run utility.

At this meeting, Dolan expressed a “deep level of concern” about Stankiewicz’s return to work, according to meeting minutes. He said that in May of last year, Stankiewicz called his phone after work hours and made several statements that he interpreted as threatening him physically and expressing a desire to financially harm he and his family.

Dolan believed the threats were credible and therefore fears for his own and his family’s safety. He also said he felt Stankiewicz returning to work will create an unsafe work environment and put him directly in danger.

He was not alone in his expressing concerns. All the other lineman at the meeting publicly expressed concerns about their co-worker returning to work.

Nate Brigham said Stankiewicz’s return would pose a safety concern for himself and other workers, while Chan Bullard expressed concerns about a hostile environment and elevated stress levels.

Jeff Parsons said he was concerned that Stankiewicz could not be trusted in a potentially dangerous work environment, an assertion backed up by Dolan, Brigham and Bullard.

After being publicly pilloried by his coworkers, Stankiewicz called what they said untrue, that he called and apologized the next morning after making the alleged threats, saying he only made them after years of harassment and having his vehicle vandalized.

Stankiewicz accused Dolan of not acting professionally when he tried to rectify the situation. He alluded to being “verbally abused for four and a half years” and argued that there shouldn’t be an issue with him returning to work, that he had never had any issues with being “unsafe.”

Stankiewicz could not be reached for comment.

Trustee Diane Lehouiller shared a copy of an arbitration agreement related to Stankiewicz’s suspension with those present at the meeting, but both she and village clerk Rosemary Audibert denied the News & Citizen’s request for a copy, even though it had already been shared with some members of the public.

Tim LaBombard, the representative for the village lineman with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 300, declined to comment.

According to Stankiewicz’s union contract, a lineman with the village of Johnson cannot be suspended or discharged without just cause. If an employee is suspended or discharged without just cause, the contract requires their reinstatement.

The contract’s grievance process also outlines guidance for a last resort arbitration process in which a neutral arbitrator agreed upon by both parties can resolve the issue.

Stankiewicz requested and received a copy of his union contract and LaBombard’s contact information from former village manager Meredith Dolan on May 25, shortly before Dolan quit her full-time position and around the time Troy Dolan alleged that he and his family began receiving threats.

Audibert also refused the News & Citizen’s request for a copy of Dolan’s resignation letter, despite providing a copy of Meredith’s resignation letter, citing counsel from the village’s lawyers at Monaghan Safar Ducham.

The newspaper has appealed this denial.

At least two village trustees said their hands were tied when it came to Stankiewicz returning to work.

“We had to follow what the arbitration award said because we agreed to binding arbitration, and so that’s what we went with,” Lehouiller said.

“The whole situation was out of our hands as trustees,” said B.J. Putvain. “We went through the process with their union. Their union pretty much put this into place and put (Stankiewicz) back on the job. We’re just trying to recover at this point.”

Though the village has technically been without a manager for over a year, it has not fielded any applications for a replacement in that time and considered getting recruiters involved at a March 9 meeting.

Then, at a March 14 meeting, Audibert told trustees that she had received a “promising” application for Meredith’s potential replacement and the board agreed to pause their plan to reach out to recruiters until after interviewing the candidate.