CHARLOTTESVILLE (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Gordonsville Director of Public Works Vincent Seal, who has come under public scrutiny after footage was released of Seal berating a police officer during a July traffic stop, has been “administratively reprimanded” by the town.

In a statement sent to Cville Right Now via email, town manager Anthony Schienschang said Seal has “acknowledged his wrongdoing,” paid the fine, as shown in court document, and has been administratively reprimanded and will receive additional training, “to ensure that no incidents of this type occur in the future.”

Schienschang commended both the Gordonsville Police Department for its professionalism as well as Seal, “for his dedication to improving the service he provides to the Town and recognizing the chance for personal growth.”

“As Town Manager, I see this as a great learning opportunity for staff,” Schienschang wrote. “Despite our best intentions, everyone occasionally gets overcome with emotion and I’m happy that this situation has been resolved.”

The town also released a statement from Seal.

“I’ve worked here for 22 years doing the best I can for Gordonsville and even I can learn how to do better,” Seal said in the statement.

In bodycam footage shows the officer, Steven Schiertzinger, and his partner pulling over Seal for texting while driving.

Seal was almost immediately agitated upon being told why he was pulled over, telling the officer, “I’m texting my workers, dude,” before opting to exit his vehicle.

The exchange escalates, with Seal saying “This ain’t gon’ work for you” as he handed over his license and registration. Seal then continued to berate the officer as he walks back to his car to process the license and registration, ignoring the officer’s request to return to his own vehicle. Seal argues with the officer, seemingly trying to use the fact that he was texting his workers to justify his actions.

“I’m texting a town employee while I’m at work, telling him what to do on the job,” Seal told the officer when receiving his ticket at the end of the exchange. “Now I know that the law is the law, but we’re at work, and you got a lot of other things you could be doing.” Seal later told the officer, “You’re costing me money, sir, and that’s not a good thing, dude. It’s really not, because I don’t have money to throw away just because you think this is wrong.”

Seal also says he will speak to the officer’s Supervisor, calling him “out of line.” Upon being notified that he was being recorded, Seal had no problem, telling the officer, “I have nothing to hide.”

According to court documents, this was Seal’s second such traffic offense, having been charged with holding his phone in January, paying a $125 fine with an additional $76 in court costs after failing to show up for his court date. Despite the previous infraction, Seal’s ticket in July was charged as a first offense, with him prepaying the $125 fine with an additional $71 in costs before his set court date.

The video was obtained last week via a Freedom of Information Act Request made by Tonya Short, who then posted the video in the Facebook group “Friends of Gordonsville,” while a friend of hers posted it to YouTube as well. Short, a resident of Gordonsville for about two decades, told Cville Right Now she has been advocating for further transparency in the Gordonsville government since 2023. She discovered the court records of the citation while looking into another case involving a separate town employee. Upon seeing the footage of Seal’s traffic stop for the first time, Short said she was “in shock.”

“It’s just not how the Town of Gordonsville representatives should be conducting themselves,” she said of Seal’s behavior in the video. “Threats to the co-worker’s possible employment in stated as ‘This will not go well for you” should have zero tolerance and should not be tolerated by an employer.”