Editor’s note: Contains vulgar language and allegations of violent threats.

By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org

The Vermont Supreme Court ruled there is nothing wrong with firing former New Hampshire State Rep. Jon Stone from his job as a corrections officer for his racist and homophobic comments. 

Stone, currently the chairman of the Sullivan County GOP, was fired from his job as a corrections officer in Vermont in 2021 for repeatedly directing racist, homophobic, and other slurs at his work colleagues. Stone appealed the termination to the Vermont Labor Relations Board, lost, and then appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court.

The Court’s ruling, issued Friday, found no problem with Stone’s termination despite his objections.

“[Stone] admitted to using derogatory terms and profanity in the workplace, including the terms ‘faggot,’ ‘retard,’ and ‘cunt.’ He knew that the language was inappropriate and inconsistent with the sexual-harassment policy. He did not believe that his conduct was a problem because such language was prevalent throughout [Southern State Correctional Facility,]” the court wrote in its ruling.

The ruling cites numerous slurs and insults Stone admitted using, according to his disciplinary record, like “wetback,” “fat fucks,” calling a female employee a “fat cow,” and making repeated homophobic comments at an openly gay corrections officer. Stone argued in his appeal that this type of language was commonly used in the prison and had no bearing on his ability to do the job. He also claimed the punishment for the offense was disproportionate and appropriate steps were not used in his discipline.

But the Court ruled Stone knew his comments were out of bounds as he had been warned by supervisors about his language, and warned he could face dismissal if he kept it up.

“This behavior clearly violated the personnel policy and DOC Work Rules. [Stone] had notice, in the form of sexual-harassment training, the personnel policy and DOC Work Rules, and verbal feedback from a supervisor that his behavior was prohibited,” the Court wrote in its ruling. 

This was not the first time Stone was disciplined by his Vermont Department of Corrections superiors. In 2013, Stone was demoted for an incident that has since been removed from his file, according to the records. In 2019, Stone was handed a 30-day suspension for reportedly failing “to notify a shift supervisor of a use of force and a search of an inmate.”

Stone did not respond to a request for comment on Monday, nor did the state GOP. This is not the first time Stone’s past has come back to haunt him.

Stone went to work for the Vermont Department of Corrections in 2007, getting a job as a corrections officer in the state prison in Springfield, Vermont, close to his hometown in Claremont, NH.

Stone was fired from his job as a Claremont Police Officer in 2006 for making threats to murder his chief and engage in a mass shooting after he was investigated for an inappropriate relationship with a teen girl.

Thanks to a deal mediated between the police department and the police union, Stone managed to keep the reasons behind his Claremont exit secret for almost two decades. In that time, Stone built a second career as a corrections officer and a co-owner in a gun shop. He then went into politics, first getting elected to the Claremont City Council and then as a state Representative. 

But as Stone made the jump into politics, the New Hampshire Supreme Court 2020 ruled that some police personnel files should be open to the Right-to-Know law. This reporter filed a request for Stone’s records, kicking off a three and a half year legal battle. 

Last year, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that Stone’s records were public, and his voters became aware for the first time why he was fired in Claremont in 2006. 

The documents released last year portray Stone in 2006 as an out-of-control and unstable man who made colleagues worry about their safety. The internal investigation into his inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old Stevens High School girl, started when she was 15, brought out a violent side of Stone that had other officers scared, according to the investigation conducted by now deceased Claremont Detective Colby Casey. 

“If he gets fired, people are afraid he will go postal,” then Claremont Detective Jesse Vezina told Casey. “He makes me nervous as far as after a confrontation with him, he may try to do something to my wife or family. Generally people think he is crazy and wonder why he is a police officer.”

By the time the documents came to light, Stone was serving as the Sullivan County Chair for the Donald Trump Reelection campaign.