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“Ryan’s subsequent termination by the Select Board was purposeful retaliation for refusing to simply go along with the dictates of Chief Minnich.”
A former West Boylston town administrator who was fired after a spat with the longtime police chief over a Trump flag filed a lawsuit against the town, alleging he was wrongfully terminated.
James Ryan was hired to serve the small Worcester suburb in January, but was fired in late February. He’s suing for more than $1.3 million, including $125,000 in documented lost wages and compensation to date, $950,000 in anticipated lost wages, and $250,000 in damages.
Shortly before Ryan was fired, West Boylston Police Chief Dennis Minnich, who has been chief since 1997, refused to return to work after Ryan demanded he remove a Trump flag due to civil rights and ethics concerns.
In the lawsuit, Ryan’s lawyers say the new town administrator was concerned about conflict of interest laws against public employees engaging with political activity and pointed to town by-laws that forbids signage on public buildings unless approved by the Select Board.
Ryan also spoke with leaders from other towns, who “unanimously stated that the campaign flag must be removed from the police department,” the lawsuit said.
“The wrongful termination of Mr. Ryan by the Town of West Boylston was an example of small-town partisan politics at its worst. As the Town Administrator, Mr. Ryan had an obligation to ensure that the State Ethics and Conflict of Interest laws were abided by, regardless of who the political candidate was,” his lawyer Timothy Burke told Boston.com. “Displaying a political campaign flag in a public building is illegal.”
Police chief: ‘This is a security violation’
Minnich previously told Boston.com that he complied with Ryan’s request to remove the flag, which didn’t belong to him and was in a gym used by officers where it would not be seen by members of the public.
However, Ryan then allegedly asked another town employee to enter the police station to confirm the flag had been taken down. When the employee saw a different flag that had been put up, Ryan confronted the chief with a photo taken on a personal cell phone of the new flag.
“This is a security violation,” Minnich said at the time, referring to the employee taking pictures. “This is a trust issue, and if I can’t trust the guy I report to, I’m not coming back to work. Either you got to do something with him or me.”
Ryan confirms in the lawsuit that he asked the town facilities director to see whether the flag had been taken down due to “the Chief’s defensive posture throughout their conversation and reluctance to recognize the potential ethics and conflict of interest laws being violated.”
However, when Minnich found out about the photo, he grew angry, the lawsuit allegedly saying “I don’t like how guys like you operate” and “You and I are done, I’ll act professional, but we’re done.”
Minnich then filed a formal complaint to the Select Board against Ryan and “contacted numerous media outlets in a thinly veiled attempt to besmirch and defame (Ryan’s) character,” according to the lawsuit. Ryan was then fired by a vote of 4-1, according to the lawsuit.
“Given Chief Minnich’s conduct and comments when confronted with this issue, Mr. Ryan had every reason to doubt that the campaign flag would be removed from the police department, which is a public building. His doubts were later borne out,” Burke said. “Mr. Ryan’s subsequent termination by the Select Board was purposeful retaliation for refusing to simply go along with the dictates of Chief Minnich.”
The Town of West Boylston did not return a request for comment, and Minnich declined to comment.
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