BURLINGTON — A former solid waste supervisor in Hartford claims his boss unfairly fired him after accusing him of trying to buy marijuana at work and allowing a shooting range on town property.

In a June lawsuit against the town of Hartford, the former supervisor, Bob Vahey, accused the town of infringing on his right to free speech, unjustly firing him while he was on medical leave, and violating his right to due process during a post-termination hearing.

Though the lawsuit was originally filed in Windsor Superior Court in Woodstock, it was moved to U.S. District Court in Burlington this week, according to the court docket for the case.

The accusations follow year-long tensions between Vahey, 67, and one of his bosses, Hannah Tyler, who is the town’s director of public works.

Vahey, who had been supervisor of the solid waste facility since 2004, said he was critical of Tyler’s hiring in 2018 because she didn’t have “professional experience with landfill management” and was worried that she would try to have him fired, according to the lawsuit.

In the lawsuit, Vahey’s attorney, Nancy Corsones, wrote that Vahey brought his concerns to Brannon Godfrey, the town manager at the time, as well as Selectboard Chairman Simon Dennis, and asserted that Tyler’s lack of knowledge “was hurting the operations” of the Hartford Transfer Station.

According to the lawsuit, Tyler and Assistant Director of Public Works Jeremy Delisle asked Vahey about his conversations and told him that talking to a member of the Selectboard is “grounds for immediate termination.” They then held a meeting with members of the Public Works Department during which they told employees not to bring any work issues to the town manager, the Selectboard or the human resources department without approval, according to the lawsuit.

Corsones wrote that Tyler and Delisle’s order violated Vahey’s right to free speech, calling it “patently unconstitutional,” in the lawsuit.

The problems continued in August 2019, when Vahey went to the emergency room with a medical issue, and needed to take several days off from work, according to the lawsuit. He requested and received paid medical leave from the town in early September, but six days later, the lawsuit said, Tyler sent him a pre-termination letter.

In the letter, Tyler wrote that Vahey had allowed a shooting range to be set up at the transfer station along Route 5 and that Vahey and other employees used the range. She also accused him of trying to buy marijuana using his town-issued computer; accepting untested compost; allowing gardens to be developed on transfer facility property; and frequently calling in sick from work. She added that the latter accusation was unrelated to his time on medical leave.

“I find that each of these actions on their own demonstrate your lack of competence as a Solid Waste Supervisor, they constitute employment misconduct and they demonstrate generally poor work performance,” Tyler wrote in a second letter, which was included in the lawsuit.

An email to Tyler regarding Vahey’s termination and the lawsuit was not returned Friday. Vahey’s lawsuit says the claims about buying marijuana and calling in sick without a reason were later withdrawn. Corsones, his attorney, also wrote that some of Tyler’s accusations were “demonstrably false” or didn’t justify his firing.

Vahey requested a post-termination hearing, which the town held in February, with Godfrey presiding. Following the hearing, Godfrey issued a decision in March upholding Tyler’s plan to fire Vahey.

But Corsones argues that the hearing itself was unfair because Godfrey had conflicts of interest in the case. Vahey had previously complained about Tyler to Godfrey, and Godfrey “played a direct role” in the investigation regarding Vahey’s work performance, Corsones wrote.

“Mr. Godfrey’s recusal was required for Mr. Vahey to have a fair and impartial post-termination hearing,” the lawsuit said.

Responding to an email for comment on the lawsuit Friday afternoon, Paula Nulty, Hartford’s director of human resources and assistant to the town manager, wrote, “The Town of Hartford will not be commenting on this personnel matter.”

Messages left for Corsones and attorneys representing Hartford were not returned Friday.

Hartford had not filed a response to Vahey’s claims by Friday afternoon.

Vahey is requesting damages — though the lawsuit does not say how much — payment of attorney fees and a declaratory judgment that the town violated Vahey’s right to free speech.

Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.