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Bill Hatton Persecuted

By VVAW

The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union (MCLU) announced that its volunteer attorney Stephen Goldfarb, Minneapolis has today filed suit in Federal Court in St. Paul against the Village Council of Bagley, Minnesota on behalf of William J. Hatton, who was dismissed on August 16 from his position of Director of Planning and Promotion at Bagley. Hatton, a veteran who returned from Viet Nam in 1969, subsequently became active in Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), a national anti-war organization headquartered in New York, and in February, 1971, became regional coordinator for Minnesota and Iowa.

On August 9, 1971 Hatton and Ed Lambert from VVAW in Minneapolis presented a proposal for a combination cultural fair and VVAW conference to the Clearwater County Board for consideration. A story appeared in the Farmer's Independent, a local newspaper, and as a result petitions containing 1200 signatures protesting the fair were submitted to the county board. Because of the pressure from the community, the county board denied the proposal on August 16.

Three days earlier on August 13, Hatton had been notified that he was to appear on the evening of August 16 at the Village Council meeting. At the meeting he was told by Mayor Earl Swenson that he was being dismissed from his position as Village Planner because of an article in Life magazine on July 9, 1971, that indicated that he had testified at a hearing held by the VVAW. The mayor also gave a reason for the dismissal Hatton's activities in VVAW, despite the fact that the activities had occurred during off-duty hours. Not being aware of the nature of the August 16 council meeting before the meeting itself, Hatton was not given the opportunity to have legal counsel, to have his supervisor present at the hearing, to call witnesses, or to otherwise defend himself against these charges.

Harriet Lykken, member of the MCLU Board of Directors, said:
"The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union is astounded that the Village of Bagley would discharge an employee on the basis of his beliefs and associations. The freedom to express one's position on so important an issue as the Vietnam war is fundamental to a democratic society. Equally important is the right to organize and protest with others. A public employer cannot squelch our right to freely speak. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits that, and the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union will uphold this nation's Constitution. The Village of Bagley violated Mr. Hatton's civil right to be heard before dismissal. The Minnesota Civil Liberties Union strongly reiterates its position that the state, counties, cities, and villages of Minnesota must respect the constitutional rights of their employees."