Laurent Swanson, recently ousted executive director of the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority, stayed away from his former office Monday, despite having vowed to continue in the post.

Swanson said he will pursue his grievance against Mayor Norman Polanski Jr. and the board of commissioners of the Housing Authority through the courts.

“I’m confident that after a judge hears this, we’re going to win,” Swanson said.

Swanson said that after conferring with his lawyer over the weekend, he decided not to challenge a letter from City Attorney Arcangelo J. Petricca warning that he faced trespassing charges and possible arrest if he returned.

“I don’t want to bring any kind of blemish to my spotless record, and I don’t want my kids to see me going to jail or in handcuffs,” Swanson said.

A week ago, Swanson was removed as executive director by the Housing Authority’s seven-member board, which also purged two elected tenant representatives from the panel and replaced the board’s legal counsel, Vincent J. Sorrentino, with the city attorney.

Two weeks earlier, Swanson became the first African-American appointed to head the Housing Authority in its 76-year history after the board agreed to buy out Thomas J. Radich’s contract.

Soon afterward, Polanski denounced the board’s action as a “shady deal,” arguing that the postion had not been adequately advertised. Polanski also insisted that Swanson, a former laborer for the Housing Authority who most recently ran its Youth and Adult Resource Center, was unqualified for the executive director position.

Robert W. McManus, deputy director of the authority, is serving as interim executive director.