Back-pay settlement approved for survivor of slain deputy sheriff

The widow of a deputy sheriff who was slain Nov. 13 will be paid $253,000 by Stanislaus County to settle his unrelated discrimination claim for back pay.

The out-of-court settlement was announced Tuesday after county leaders emerged from a closed-door meeting. Both sides said they’re happy the six-year legal battle is over, but Dennis Wallace’s widow said she remains bothered that the end result isn’t all that her late husband had hoped for.

“Honestly, it’s a relief that we don’t have to deal with it anymore,” Mercedes Wallace said. “But is it fair? No,” she said, because the payment includes nothing for emotional distress.

Dennis Wallace was 53 and nearing retirement when he was gunned down while checking a stolen van at the Fox Grove fishing access near Hughson, his longtime home, and suspect David Machado was arrested a few hours later. A judge last month sent Machado to a state mental hospital to restore mental capacity before facing murder charges; prosecutors have not said whether they’ll seek the death penalty.

“We empathize with Mrs. Wallace and all she has gone through in recent months,” said County Counsel John Doering. “The county focused on providing all compensation she was entitled to with a minimum of legal process for her to contend with.”

Wallace’s funeral drew thousands, including hundreds of officers from several states and dignitaries such as Gov. Jerry Brown. The deputy had been popular with schools where he worked for years on anti-drug campaigns, especially in Salida and Hughson.

But Wallace had generated headlines years earlier when he sued the Sheriff’s Department for idling him for two years without pay, saying he was too injured to work while he said he wasn’t.

His lawsuit came to trial in 2012 and revealed that Sheriff Adam Christianson and other managers widely used the phrase “limp, lame and lazy” when referring to certain sick and injured employees. County administrators launched an independent investigation and Christianson apologized, and the trial ended in a hung jury.

Jurors in a second trial sided with the county, declining to award Wallace $468,000 in unpaid wages and benefits and damages for emotional distress. But Wallace took it to a higher court, appellate justices agreed with him, and the case was about to return to Stanislaus courts to determine what he was owed when he was killed.

“My satisfaction is he did win,” said Mercedes Wallace. “It came too late for him, but he was hoping to protect the future of people, so they don’t keep doing it to others.”

A claim for a death payment through workers’ compensation has yet to be settled, but that’s a simple matter “controlled by statute, so we expect that to resolve soon,” Doering said.

However, the Wallaces’ legal team expects about $1 million, the county said, for six years of representing the late deputy with no compensation, and “the county disputes on the grounds that it is excessive and unreasonable,” Doering said.

Monday would have been the couple’s 30th wedding anniversary, and thoughtful people brought Mercedes Wallace flowers.

“It was so sweet,” she said. “People are still loving on me and praying for me. It’s amazing what people are still doing for me, for him.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Back-pay settlement approved for survivor of slain deputy sheriff."