Judge Tosses Trooper's Claims Against Seven Days, Human Rights Commission 

A federal judge on Friday dismissed a former Vermont State Police corporal's defamation claim against Seven Days over its reporting on a Human Rights Commission investigation.

U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss wrote that she found "minimal to non-existent" evidence to support Andrew Leise's claim that the newspaper intended to harm his reputation in its reporting. His additional claim that Seven Days conspired with the Human Rights Commission to violate his civil rights was "both speculative and far-fetched," she wrote.

Leise's civil lawsuit followed the commission's 2021 finding that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Vermont State Police had discriminated against Lydia Clemmons, a Black woman who is a member of the prominent Charlotte family that owns the historic Clemmons Family Farm, while responding to issues she was having with a tenant. Seven Days wrote about the commission's investigation, which it obtained through a public records request.

Leise disputed the commission's findings. Public release of the investigative report and a Seven Days news story about it unfairly ruined his career, he asserted in a civil complaint last year.

"A court must be mindful that, as a public official, Plaintiff's conduct is expected to be subject to public debate," Reiss wrote, adding that the story in question included both favorable and unfavorable statements regarding Leise.

Leise also sued the Vermont Human Rights Commission; its executive director, Bor Yang; and the commission's chair, Rep. Kevin "Coach" Christie (D-Hartford).

Reiss on Friday dismissed Leise's claims against the commission after concluding that, as an arm of state government, it cannot be sued.

The judge declined to throw out certain claims against Yang and Christie personally related to the release of the investigative report as a public record. The parties need to submit more information so she can try to determine whether the release was unlawful, Reiss wrote.

Leise retired from the Vermont State Police last August after more than 22 years of service, the agency announced in a Facebook post. His attorney, Kaveh Shahi, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Read the decision below: