RAYMOND – Former Raymond Selectman Dana Desjardins has filed a lawsuit against Raymond Town Manager Don Willard and Selectman Mike Reynolds in response to their allegations, made via email, that Desjardins has attended public meetings intoxicated and has frequently driven his vehicle while drunk.

Desjardins is accusing Willard and Reynolds of defamation of character, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.

Desjardins filed the 19-page complaint Aug. 14 with Cumberland County Superior Court in connection with what he claims are false defamatory statements made against him, humiliating him to the point where it has prevented him from attending town meetings, he said.

“This has been going on for a year and a half,” Desjardins said of what he calls “harassment” by Willard and Reynolds.

According to the lawsuit, statements emailed to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office by the defendants on their personal time include accusations that Desjardins was frequently driving while intoxicated.

The allegations led to Desjardins getting pulled over in his vehicle by a deputy because he had “reportedly been observed drinking and driving around Raymond on a regular basis,” the lawsuit reads.

A Raymond selectman for nine years, Desjardins served on the board with Reynolds until October 2010. Desjardins now serves on the Raymond Budget-Finance Committee, which meets with selectmen every November to discuss and plan the town’s economic outlook, he said.

Willard has served as town manager of Raymond for 13 years. Reynolds has been a selectman since 2004. When asked whether taxpayers would be financially responsible for the legal defense against Desjardins, Willard and Reynolds declined to comment.

Because the Desjardins’ lawsuit is a “pending legal matter,” neither Willard nor Reynolds were willing to comment on any part of the issue, they said last week.

The suit sprang out of an incident on Jan. 8 when Desjardins was pulled over in his vehicle by a sheriff’s deputy while on his way to a selectmen’s meeting at Jordan-Small Middle School.

At 5:30 that evening, Desjardins said, while he and his wife were folding clothes in their home, he noticed the deputy drive a half-mile down the private road he lives on and park in front of his house. He was pulled over by the same deputy an hour and 20 minutes later while driving to the meeting.

“What business did he have there?” Desjardins said Friday. “I had traveled one-tenth of a mile up the road and he [the deputy] was on the left-hand side waiting for me. The minute I went by him, he came out behind me and pulled me over.”

According to Desjardins, the officer indicated Desjardins was driving 50 mph, which was 5 mph over the speed limit, at the intersection of Route 85 and Dryard’s Woods Road.

When Desjardins asked why he stopped him, the deputy responded he was within his rights. Desjardins said he felt it was an invasion of privacy and that he was deprived of his rights under the 14th Amendment.

The lawsuit states that Desjardins had been “red-flagged” by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office for nearly three months before he was pulled over. Sheriff Kevin Joyce, however, said earlier this week there was no record of Desjardins ever being flagged on this occasion, because a flag indicates danger, Joyce said. Joyce confirmed this week that Desjardins had been pulled over due to concerns for public safety previously relayed from Willard and Reynolds.

“There was no proof. I was just putting out [emails] that he might be intoxicated,” Joyce said.

Desjardins has an “impeccable” driving record, according to the lawsuit.

“My driving record is clean,” Desjardins said last week. “No OUIs – nothing.”

The deputy eventually let Desjardins go with a “verbal warning” about driving 5 mph over the speed limit.

“He [the deputy] noticed right away that I wasn’t intoxicated,” Desjardins said. “And, I never go to meetings intoxicated. I hardly drink to begin with. I have a medical condition that doesn’t allow me to consume large amounts of alcohol.”

Complaints

After the January incident, Desjardins obtained legal counsel to try to stop what he described as harassment and false reports.

Those reports, said Desjardins’ attorney, John Campbell, of Campbell & Associates, based in Portland, include comments from Willard and Reynolds that citizens can smell intoxicants on Desjardins’ breath at town meetings.

One email between Joyce and Reynolds show that Joyce said the department would “be on the lookout” or “dedicated to looking for” Desjardins.

Reynolds wrote to the department on Jan. 9 that he had attended two selectmen meetings where Desjardins “was not visibly intoxicated nor was there a smell [of alcohol] easily detected by those next to him,” suggesting it was the result of Desjardins being tipped off by police.

In his emails to Joyce, Reynolds indicated that for months, Desjardins showed up to meetings “possibly” intoxicated and Reynolds just wanted to notify the department about what he considered a “public safety issue.”

In one email, Willard thanked the department for taking action and added he would have town staff at the meeting “call in any observed behaviors or other signs that would indicate impairment.”

Desjardins said he and Campbell have yet to determine the legal fees for the case or how much he’s seeking in damages, but claims that the lawsuit isn’t about money.

“It’s about what took place, and it’s got to be stopped at some point,” he said.

According to Campbell, the published statements via email amount to “slander and libel,” and were “made with malice and reckless disregard” to the point where it ultimately led to having Desjardins removed from the board and entitles him to recover punitive damages.

In the past

Desjardins and Campbell submitted two Freedom of Access requests for the emails between the sheriff and the defendants, and they believe the defendants are not releasing all of them, he said, frustrated that they’re not complying with the freedom-of-information law.

Desjardins believes the defendants’ emails are an attempt to get him into “some embarrassing situation,” based on past feuds while Desjardins served as selectman.

The lawsuit states the “defendants developed a dislike for the plaintiff [Desjardins], which may relate to Desjardins’ outspokenness at public meetings” particularly about matters such as “wasteful spending.”

According to the suit, Willard’s and Reynolds’ complaints may have arisen from Desjardins’ suggestion in 2009 that Willard be terminated as town manager. It could have also stemmed from a transaction involving a parcel of Desjardins’ land he was negotiating to permit the town to use, the suit states. It may even be related to questions raised by Desjardins about Reynolds’ purchasing town-owned property, or that Desjardins had allegedly “cheated the town,” said Charles Leavitt, also a former Raymond selectman.

According to Leavitt, Desjardins had orally agreed to allow a trash container on his property, and after the town provided a “substantial amount” of gravel, machinery and labor, Desjardins withdrew his offer, which he believes could be a factor in the lawsuit.

“It all ties in,” Leavitt said.

“I think Mr. Desjardins has had enough,” Leavitt said.

“They were trying to set me up, that’s what they basically were doing,” Desjardins said. “They wanted me to get pulled over for OUI.”

Dana Desjardins