Officer fired, plans to appeal

PERRY, Okla. (AP) -- The attorney for a Perry police officer says his client will appeal the City Council's decision to fire her for inferior work performance and dereliction of duty. The council

Friday, February 11th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PERRY, Okla. (AP) -- The attorney for a Perry police officer says his client will appeal the City Council's decision to fire her for inferior work performance and dereliction of duty. The council voted 6-0 Wednesday to fire Tina Wheatley. Two members of the council were absent.

Wheatley had been placed on paid administrative leave Feb. 1, after allegations surfaced that she failed to report that her husband didn't register as a sex offender. Attorney Loren Gibson said he will appeal the firing as a violation of the Perry Fraternal Order of Police's contract and seek reinstatement of pay and benefits. Gibson said he also will appeal via the city's pension board at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for gender discrimination and in district court.

Wheatley's husband, Michael Wheatley, was convicted in 1994 in Tulsa County of second-degree rape involving sexual acts with a 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl during a party. A high school senior at the time, he was sentenced to five years in prison and was released Aug. 16, 1996.

The couple moved to Perry in 1998, a year after the state's Sex Offenders Registration Act took effect. Sex offenders are required to register with local law officers within three days of moving to a new city or town. Gibson said Michael Wheatley told Tina Wheatley that he did not have to register as a sex offender after his release from prison. The city did not provide any court documents that he had to register, Gibson said. â€œTina Wheatley was penalized by Perry officials for "accepting what her husband told her," Gibson said.

He said his client has a marital privilege that protects her from having to disclose her spouse's criminal activity. "I do not believe that she could be compelled to disclose that information without violating that privilege," Gibson said. He said she plans to appeal the firing on several grounds, including gender discrimination. City officials will "learn gender discrimination is no laughing matter," Gibson said.