Widowed dispatcher fired for violating nepotism policy

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ? A police dispatcher who secretly married an officer has been fired for violating the city’s nepotism policy, even though she’s now a widow.

Police Chief Don Myers fired Karen Roberts-Deckard on Tuesday.

The dispatcher had married Lt. George Deckard in a 2004 secret ceremony in Hawaii. She said her supervisors found out they were married after her husband died of cancer in October.

Roberts-Deckard said the department had known the two were romantically involved because they moved in together in 2002.

“They even recognized us as a couple because they gave us a Christmas card last year,” Roberts-Deckard said.

The nepotism policy, which took effect in January 2004, prohibits “close relatives,” including spouses, from working in the same department or building. It says that if two employees marry and one doesn’t quit, the less-senior employee will be fired.

“They say it’s OK for you to live together and have children together but if you get a marriage certificate, you’ll get fired,” Roberts-Deckard said.

The 14-year dispatcher said she applied for jobs in other departments before the wedding but wasn’t hired.

Roberts-Deckard is appealing her termination.

City officials declined to comment other than to confirm the firing and her appeal.