Ex-Cadet Files Complaints Against Rocky Mount Police Chief

Rocky Mount, N.C. — A former Rocky Mount Police Department employee has filed complaints with the city and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming she was forced out of a job as a police cadet after having an affair with the police chief.

Police Chief John Manley on Friday denied having a romantic relationship with Shirley Moore. Rocky Mount officials said they were looking into her claims.

The police department hired Moore last August, and she went through a five-month training program. She told WRAL she agreed to a "conditional" relationship with Manley last fall when she was promised quick promotions.

She told WRAL that Manley paid for her to have an abortion in November after she became pregnant.

Within days of her completing her training, she said in her complaints, Manley called her into his office and told her it would be best for him and for the department if she sought other employment. She claims the meeting occurred after someone sent a letter to Manley's wife in February about the affair.

"Shirley Moore did resign from the department. She was not forced, that's for sure," Manley said in a telephone interview with WRAL.

He adamantly denied her claims of an affair.

"Absolutely not. Not under any circumstances. (There was) no affair whatsoever, other than an employment relationship," he said.

City logs of Manley's office and cell phones, obtained by WRAL through an official request, show 144 calls between Manley and Moore from September through February. The calls ranged from early morning to late evening and included 11 on Sept. 14, the day Moore claims the two had a romantic liaison in a hotel room.

"Regardless of the number of calls that she may have called me or I have returned her calls, it was always related to a work-related experience, a work-related issue or an experience in the academy," Manley said.

Rocky Mount Assistant City Manager Charles Penny called the case a personnel matter and declined to discuss it.

"We are aware of it, and we're handling it like we're supposed to," Penny said.

Moore said the EEOC, a federal agency, wouldn't pursue an investigation because her claims don't meet its criteria and that she plans to file a civil lawsuit about the matter.