Quick to fire, hard to hire: Some say Wake sheriff's style contributes to staff shortage

Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker faces new questions over some of his personnel decisions. Shortly after a deputy resigned in February and announced he would run for sheriff, the man’s son was terminated and the son’s fianceé placed on leave, with no explanation.

WRAL Investigates has been looking into questions about Baker's decision-making since soon after he took office more than three years ago.

Sheriffs in North Carolina have great power to hire and fire. Still, in this election year, Baker confronts new criticism and lingering federal lawsuits over whether retaliation is involved in his decision-making.

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Cedric Herring gave notice he was leaving the Wake Sheriff's Office in early February citing a “broken” agency due to morale and leadership concerns.

When he told Baker he planned to run against him, the deputy wasn't that stunned by Baker's response. “He folded up the paper.  He said ‘That’s all I need to hear. Have a nice day. I don’t need you to work your two-week notice.’”

The surprise came about 24 hours later. Herring's son Keenen, a patrol deputy on the job since 2017, was called to meet the sheriff at 3 p.m. He sat waiting for 2 and a half hours, Herring says.

“They took my badge and gun, and I walked in and spoke to the sheriff, and all I was told is my services are no longer needed," Keenen Herring told WRAL News. "I work hard. I don’t miss work. I don’t call out. I come to work and I give the county my best effort. Being a patrol deputy, politics is the last thing you think about … It was a shock to me,” he said.

The younger Herring said he was terminated without any reason. His fianceé, a civilian who works in recruiting was also suddenly placed on leave. “I took it personally,” Keenen Herring said.

While the Herrings won’t speculate publicly on whether the sheriff’s actions were retaliatory in some way, other fired deputies were convinced when they spoke to WRAL Investigates in early 2019.

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“Yes, it was retaliation,” former Wake Deputy Steven Williamson said.

“Yes, in my heart,” fired deputy Gray Speight said.

Baker fired deputies Speight and Williamson just before Christmas in 2018. Both reported their supervisor Teddy Patrick made anti-gay comments in a training session. While Baker denied retaliation for his friend, Patrick, the cases are part of pending federal lawsuits involving at least five former employees claiming wrongful termination.

Another ex-employee, Latreka Jones, filed suit claiming Baker violated the Family Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act for denying her time to take her son to medical infusions. She also feels the sheriff's office violated the Families First Coronavirus Response Act by firing her two days after she was told to quarantine because another son tested positive for COVID-19.

Wendy Whitman isn't part of a lawsuit, but spent nearly a decade working in 911 and dispatch. She recently gave her two-week notice citing mental health concerns.

“It was beginning to take a toll on me,” she told WRAL. A stunned Whitman says when she submitted her resignation, Baker told her to leave immediately.

“It’s just unacceptable and insulting to treat a hard working individual the way they do,” she said.

The resignations and firings come as the Wake Sheriff's Office, like many agencies, struggles with staff shortages.

Keenen Herring says he felt vulnerable on patrol with eight or nine deputies covering the entire county at times, unlike the 21 or 22 who would have been on duty a decade ago. “Being the only deputy on one side of the county is unacceptable. It’s unsafe and it’s unfair to the citizens,” he said, adding his firing only makes the situation worse for fellow patrol deputies.

Before his son’s firing, Cedric Herring, a retired state trooper, worked to help Baker recruit new deputies. He says the agency struggles to offset resignations, retirements and firings. “We can hire them, but we can’t retain them,” he said. He wants a professional review board to look over firings to add more checks and balances on the sheriff's authority. “Working at the pleasure of the sheriff is something that we have to, in 2022, deal with.”