ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996             TAG: 9601180087
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER 

EX-DEPUTY AWARDED $5,299 FOR DOG CARE

HE WOULD HAVE BEEN PAID the whole time if he'd only asked for it, ex-Sheriff Carl Wells said.

A former Bedford County sheriff's deputy is owed $5,299 in back pay for taking care of the county's tracking dog on his own time, a federal judge has ruled.

Former Deputy Douglas Mayhew had sought about $35,000 for overtime pay never received. He said he spent 14 hours a week caring for Gypsy, a black Labrador retriever, at his home.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser ruled that Mayhew is entitled to compensation for 597 hours for caring for the dog over the almost 15 months that fell within the statute of limitations.

But Kiser ruled that Mayhew was considered a salaried and not an hourly worker, so he was entitled to only half his regular pay for those hours, rather than full pay or time and a half.

He said Mayhew was not entitled to other damages because then-Sheriff Carl Wells proved that he had reasonable grounds to believe he was not violating the law.

"If he put the time down [on the department's computerized log] and claimed it from the outset, he would have gotten it," Wells testified at the November trial. "It would have been no different from ... being on the road [patrolling]."

Wells also said Mayhew was compensated for the time he spent training Gypsy during regular shifts and that the Sheriff's Office paid for food, veterinary care and training supplies.

Mayhew's attorney, Terry Grimes, said at the trial that Mayhew didn't realize he was entitled to compensation for the time he spent with the dog until a Spotsylvania County deputy won a similar lawsuit in 1992.

Gypsy, who still lives with Mayhew, was considered his dog, not the county's. Mayhew brought her in when the county needed help tracking escaped inmates, criminals and missing persons.

Mayhew sued the sheriff in July 1994 and retired in January 1995 on disability. Wells is retired. The state, not Wells, will pay Mayhew's award.

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