Burlington pays $215K to settle a lawsuit accusing an officer of excessive force

Vermont’s largest city of Burlington has paid $215,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing a police officer of using excessive force by grabbing a man and slamming him to the ground, knocking him unconscious in September of 2018.

According to the federal lawsuit filed in 2019, Mabior Jok was standing outside with a group when a conversation became heated. Officer Joseph Corrow, without announcing himself or issuing any instructions, then slammed Jok to the ground, the lawsuit said.

The police chief at the time said an internal investigation found Corrow did not call for backup or use verbal commands, but he did not use excessive force, according to a court filing. He also had said that Jok was known to officers “as a person who has a violent history who has attacked the community and police officers.”

The settlement was reached at the end of August, about a week before the planned start of a trial, said Jok’s lawyer Robb Spensley, who called it a reasonable settlement. It was first reported by Seven Days.

“I would add that this settlement is life-changing money for my client, who has been intermittently homeless for years,” Spensley said by email on Thursday.

The city’s insurance carrier paid $140,000, and the city paid $75,000, according to Joe Magee, deputy chief of staff in the mayor’s office.

The city acknowledges that the case has been in litigation for a long time and is glad to have reached a resolution, Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak said in a statement Thursday.

“We hope that the resolution of the case provides some measure of relief for Mr. Jok,” she said. “We also recognize the City must approach every instance where force is used as an opportunity to review what happened and ensure our police department training, practices, and policies emphasize de-escalation, minimal reliance on using force, and effective communication.”

Last year the city agreed to pay $750,000 to settle another excessive force lawsuit, accusing police of brutality against another Black man also in September of 2018.

The lawsuit said Officer Jason Bellavance approached two men who were arguing outside of a bar and without announcing his presence shoved Jeremie Meli with both hands. Meli fell backward, hit his head on a wall and was knocked out.

Bellavance was suspended after an internal investigation, and in 2020 left the department in a separation agreement with the city. That came amid protests over George Floyd’s killing in Minneapolis. Protesters in Burlington called for the firing of three officers, including Bellavance.

In another case in 2019, a man died two days after being hit in the head by a Burlington police officer. A federal judge approved a $45,000 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Doug Kilburn’s family in 2021.