Former Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood plans to sue the city of Ouray, alleging city leaders violated Wood’s constitutional rights when then-City Administrator Silas Clarke fired Wood in June.
In a notice dated Aug. 22 and mailed to City Administrator Silas Clarke and City Attorney Carol Viner, Wood’s attorney, Reid Elkus of Greenwood Village, claimed the city violated Wood’s First Amendment rights to free speech and 14th Amendment rights guaranteeing equal protection. The notice indicates Wood plans to seek damages exceeding $150,000.
The former chief was placed on paid administrative leave at the end of January in the midst of turmoil after his stepson and two others were arrested in a sexual assault case. The incident allegedly occurred in the police chief’s home while he slept upstairs. The city cited public attention in the case as the reason for the leave, and said it was in place pending the case’s resolution.
But on June 24, the city fired Wood, detailing concerns in a four-page termination letter saying he “engaged in poor work performance, violations of state law and other actions inappropriate for the Chief of Police.”
Elkus’ letter references some of the reasons given for Wood’s firing, including an allegation that he boycotted Mojo’s Coffee Shop in Ouray because it supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Clarke cited the boycott and disparaging remarks Wood reportedly made about the organization in written documentation to Wood prior to his termination, notifying him of the pending discipline. This was one of the complaints listed in the investigation conducted by an outside consultant, after the department’s former evidence technician filed a formal complaint about the department in April.
The investigation found “you publicly disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement by calling it a terrorist organization and boycotted a business within the city because it displayed a sign in favor of the movement,” the notice from the city said. “Your actions could be considered discourteous to the public, as well as indicate an inability by you to establish and maintain effective working relationships with private businesses and the public.”
Elkus argued that Wood’s decision to not shop at Mojo’s had nothing to do with his job duties and the city violated his First Amendment rights.
The notice of the lawsuit also detailed concerns about Wood’s right to due process before he was fired. Elkus argued Clarke damaged Wood’s character by alleging he would “silence his critics through fear.” In the letter he wrote to Wood when he was fired, Clarke said the department may have received more complaints if those people weren’t afraid of retaliation.
“From what I could tell, if you had not placed members of the public in fear of reporting, the city may have received more complaints which needed investigation,” Clarke wrote in the termination letter.
But Elkus argued the fact the city received complaints – including one from a woman who said Wood made inappropriate remarks to her about taking her out for dinner and being a pretty young blonde – means people weren’t afraid to make reports. He characterized Clarke’s points as “scathing accusations.”
“In other words, Jeff Wood is a corrupt public official,” Elkus said in the notice to the city. “Clearly, Clarke’s statement impugned Jeff Wood’s good name and reputation.”
Elkus also argued that Wood wasn’t given a chance to respond to the allegation that he caused fear of retaliation and refute it, since it wasn’t included in the city’s notice of discipline to him before he was fired.
“In short, and based on the foregoing, Chief Wood was wrongfully and unjustly terminated,” the notice of the lawsuit reads.
The Ouray City Council met in executive session for more than two hours Tuesday night to discuss the pending litigation with City Attorney Carol Viner, as well as a personnel matter regarding the city administrator and to receive legal advice on issues with Crystal Reservoir.
Wood’s attorney, Elkus, serves as general counsel to the Fraternal Order of Police’s Denver Sheriff’s Lodge, according to his firm’s website.
Elkus has experience winning wrongful termination lawsuits for law enforcement officers against municipalities. In the past, he represented a former Commerce City police officer, Scott Green, who was fired after he filed an open records request seeking public records about use-of-force complaints filed about his coworkers at another agency where they worked previously. That former officer received a $150,000 settlement in the federal lawsuit in 2017, according to reporting from CBS 4 in Denver.
