Fired Nottingham Fire Chief Files Defamation Lawsuit

Nottingham Fire and Rescue truck

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By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

Former Fire Chief Jaye Vilchock is accusing two Nottingham firefighters of conspiring to create false accusations of racism in order to get him terminated.

Vilchock filed a defamation lawsuit against the town in Rockingham Superior Court last week alleging he was ousted from his post thanks to the malicious actions of firefighters Francis Bruno and Vash Rosfield. According to the lawsuit, Bruno and Rosfield claimed Vilchock used the racial slur, “spic.”

Doug Bates, who operates the Nottingham NH Blog, first reported the lawsuit. Bates also reported on a letter in which Vilchock warned the town last month he would file a lawsuit unless the town took steps to correct the alleged defamation. One of the steps was paying Vilchock $250,000.

Vilchock denies in his lawsuit using the racist slur and claims the town’s termination letter accused him of engaging in discrimination. Selectboard Chair John Morin did not respond to a request for comment.

Vilchock’s lawsuit claims Bruno conspired with Rosfield to tell the selectboard that the chief directed the slur at Bruno. Both Rosfield and Bruno disliked Vilchock, according to the lawsuit, and Bruno was allegedly angry that he had been denied a raise. Vilchock’s lawsuit accuses the firefighters of cynically using race to target a hated boss.

“What makes their conduct so unconscionable is that bigotry, racism, and illegal discrimination still exist in our country and state,” the lawsuit states. “Falsely accusing someone of bigotry, intentionally, for the purpose of humiliating them and replacing him with someone more pliable undermines people who have actually been the victims of discrimination.”

Neither Bruno nor Rosfield responded to a request for comment. 

The town fired Vilchock in 2023 after several members of the fire department came forward with complaints about his management. The town hired attorney Charla Stevens to conduct an independent investigation into the department. Stevens found overall Vilchock’s poor management created a dysfunctional fire department.

“The Nottingham Fire and Rescue Department is currently in a state of dysfunction with extremely low morale. There is evidence that this dysfunction has existed for a significant period, but things have deteriorated in the past six to nine months contemporaneous with the advent of a primarily full-time staff. The poor morale is attributable to both Chief Vilchock and Lt. Sandra Vilchock, both of whom have been identified as difficult to work with, albeit for different reasons,” Stevens wrote in her report.

Vilchock took the town to court in an attempt to get his job back, but Rockingham Superior Court Judge Lisa English ruled last year there was ample cause for the town to terminate.

“The Court finds that [Vilchock] ‘lost the confidence of … those who served under him’ and his ‘course of conduct in this entire matter’ rendered him unfit for the position of NFRD Chief,” English wrote.

According to English’s ruling, and the Stevens report, fire department staff went to the select board with concerns about “public and employee safety, unfair discipline, retaliation, questionable personnel management, and creation of a hostile work environment.”

Vilchock reportedly micromanaged the staff to the extent he called off mutual aid for an incident where he was not on scene, overruling the decision of the actual on-scene responder. English also cited incidents in which: Vilchock ordered an employee to drive a department truck that did not have working brakes, Vilchock got into an accident with a department vehicle and did not report the damage, and Vilchock left staff members’ in constant fear of retaliation. 

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