Former Wilmington Police Officer of the Year’s fight with city heads to NC Supreme Court

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington Police officer’s years’ long battle with the city over a promotional test heads to the North Carolina Supreme Court tomorrow.

Last year a NC Court of Appeals panel ruled Kevin Tully has the right to sue the City of Wilmington after he claimed questions on a promotional test were wrong.

In 2011, Tully was a WPD corporal trying for a promotion to sergeant. That process ended when Tully learned he had failed a written test. But Tully alleges when he reviewed a copy of the correct answers to the test, he found that they were based on outdated law, particularly on searches and seizures. He claims his answers to the questions were correct, yet he was denied advancement while other officers who were promoted may have advanced despite actually answering the questions incorrectly.

Tully has worked at WPD since 2000. In 2011, he was named Wilmington Police Officer of the Year. In 2014, he was awarded the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor. The city says Tully was promoted to sergeant in October 2016.

Tully, following WPD procedure, appealed the test results. In January 2012, City Manager Sterling Cheatham denied the grievance saying the test questions could not be appealed.

In late 2014, Tully filed a civil rights claim against the city. A New Hanover County judge dismissed the claim in the spring of 2015, and Tully appealed.

In a 2-1 ruling in August 2016 the Appeals Court panel agreed with Tully’s argument that the city had failed to follow its own policies and procedures and then decided an employee could not challenge that failure. A dissenting opinion argues against Tully’s challenge because the cases he cited are about the government’s power over citizens and not its employees.

The city appealed to the NC Supreme Court in September 2016.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case tomorrow at 9 a.m. in Raleigh.

A WPD spokeswoman said the city does not comment on pending litigation.