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This settlement is closed!
Please see what other class action settlements you might qualify to claim cash from in our Open Settlements directory!
UPDATE 7:
- This class action settlement is paying out $451 in a second round of payments.
UPDATE 6:
- Readers reported this settlement paying out more than $400 as of Jan. 26, 2022.
- Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!
UPDATE 5:
- The settlement will become effective Nov. 3, 2021.
- First payments are expected to be issued in two to three months.
- Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
UPDATE 4:
- According to the settlement website, the Supreme Court petition will not be decided until October 2021 or later.
- Settlement payments will remain on hold until the petition for review is resolved.
UPDATE 3:
- On May 13, 2021, an objector filed a petition seeking review of the settlement by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The settlement will not become effective until after the review request is decided.
- Top Class Actions will continue to provide case updates as they become available.
UPDATE 2:
- On Sept. 10, 2020, an appeal to the L.A. Women’s Jail Strip Search Class Action Settlement was filed.
- Claims will not be paid until all appeals are exhausted.
- We appreciate your ongoing patience. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
UPDATE:
- The L.A. Women’s Jail Strip Search Class Action Settlement was granted final approval Aug. 11, 2020.
- Let Top Class Actions know when you receive a check in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
The County of Los Angeles has agreed to pay a total of $53 million to settle class action allegations that women inmates were subject to degrading strip searches while entering or returning to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif.
The settlement represents the largest payout in the county’s history.
The Lynwood strip search settlement website notes that Class Members include those who were subjected to a strip search in a group outside of the bus garage while entering or returning from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Lynwood Jail between March 5, 2008 and Jan. 31, 2015.
Lead plaintiffs claimed that thousands of inmates were subjected to unnecessary and violating strip searches. Plaintiff Jessica Almaraz alleged that she was strip searched a total of five times during her time at the Sheriff Department’s Century Regional Detention Facility.
According to the female inmates, women were often strip searched in groups. They say that they were forced to take off their clothes and be invasively strip searched in front of other women. Allegedly, deputies degraded them and yelled profanity during these searches.
The plaintiffs claim that this treatment violated their Fourth Amendment rights.
Eligible Class Members will be able to receive at least $200 for one strip search, while those who experienced numerous strip searches are likely to end up with thousands of dollars.
Inmates must complete and return a Claim Form to receive monetary recovery. According to the strip search class action, qualifying individuals should have received a Claim Form in the mail. Class Members may also compete a Claim Form online.
Class Members can exclude themselves from the settlement, or object to it by June 4, 2020. Those who excluded themselves from the settlement retain their right to pursue independent litigation over the strip searches, but waive their rights to claim benefits from this settlement.
Former inmates who do nothing will receive no benefits, and waive their rights to pursue independent litigation.
Class Members can also attend the final approval hearing on July 20, 2020, in which a judge will decide whether or not the settlement will be approved.
Who’s Eligible
Individuals who were subjected to a strip search in a group outside of the bus garage while entering or returning from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Lynwood Jail between March 5, 2008 and Jan. 31, 2015.
Potential Award
At least $200 and up to thousands of dollars.
No Class Member who files a claim will receive less than $200 (for one search under the least bad conditions). Persons with the highest number of searches – up to 50 – will likely receive thousands of dollars.
Proof of Purchase
N/A
Claim Form
NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.
Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Claim Form Deadline
6/4/2020
Case Name
Mary Amador, et al. v. Sheriff Leroy D. Baca, et al., Case No. 2:10-cv-01649-SVW-JEM, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
Final Hearing
7/20/2020
Settlement Website
Claims Administrator
Lynwood Strip Search Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91070
Seattle, WA 98111
info@LynwoodStripSearch.com
1-855-233-1237
Class Counsel
Barrett S. Litt
Lindsay Battles
KAYE McLAN BEDNARSKI & LITT
DONALD COOK ATTORNEY AT LAW
Colleen Flynn
LAW OFFICES OF COLLEEN FLYNN
Cynthia Anderson-Barker
LAW OFFICES OF CYNTHIA ANDERSON-BARKER
Defense Counsel
Andrew Baum
GLASER WEIL
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330 thoughts onL.A. Women’s Jail Strip Search Class Action Settlement
Yep! You nailed it Sista! Every time to court, from court and during booking. It DOES haunt me too when I’m sleeping,jolting me awake.
They were young female deputies,showing off their dominance. I’m 55 yes old and do not initiate battle with these degenerate females but I sure would have loved to run into one of them on the street!!!
i was arrested March, 2007 coming out of a club so i was wearing a skirt w/ heels they took my shoes and threw me in a cold ass fckn room … no blanket, sweater, or sock i was almost naked, i wrapped my self with freakin toilet paper! (3-4 hrs in the waiting tables) ~ i guess there waiting on more girls so they can have a hay day, once maybe there was like 10-15 more girls they rounded us up made us strip from 18- like 90 year olds made us form a circle out in the open facing each other while there barking there orders and most of us look confused and there just threatening us, so i’m embarrassed and i’m 23 at the time i just imagined the older ladies how they felt, the way they make you feel, they degrade you and try to make you feel like your nothing from the take your tampons out throw them in the middle of the circle, lift your breast, like wtf ? squat, cough, squat cough, bend over (while you feel the heat of the flashlight in your assh***) if you flinch because of the heat of the flash light mind you this is the first time i’ve been thru this they all want to jump on you like your the biggest trafficker ever when maybe soaking wet i weight 110 and i’m 5,4.. and let’s not all forget some of these LADY CO’s are straight up DYKES they always hung together i can’t remember if it was 3 or 4 of them but ugh i try to put this in the farthest of my brain to not remember these days.. I was stripped searched about 5-6 times every time coming back from court that i ended up taking a plea deal and went to PRISON then to go thru another one of those strip searches, and coming from court was WORST you just sat in a ice freezing tank in court for like 6hrs which doesn’t seem like that if feels like weeks freezing and hungry to go back to strip searches like really when did i or how could i possibly teleported somewhere n shoved something inside me w/out anyone seeing me that the … i’m done.. just wanted to add to this thread that this has been going on since earlier that 2008. Some of us just put this bullshit behind us, tossed it in a box sealed it and threw away the key. I applaud the lawyers that have taken on this enormous giant.. if David beat Goliath, i don’t see why this settlement won’t win, corona virus or not.. the courts should reopen and this is due in July,2020 because while the courts are closed the cases and files and paper work and what ever else the court does is being done just not in court and cases are being maybe postponed but not forgotten.. :)
It was a horrible degrading experience in that bus garage. May God bless all you women that had to go though that.
Wow I thank god justice was made because all this deputies for reals acted like we were some f…. pieces of shit I hope we all get the help god bless all of us even though we made a mistake for what ever reason we got putting in a jail we deserve justice
Yes, what about being searched everyday after returning from work… what the hell was I gonna steel an orange juice???? (Trustees) and being thrown stuff by the deputy in charge while at work??? These officers need to stop acting like sexual predators. They yelled “if you’re on your period throw that dirty pad away and get a new one, I don’t wanna see that sh**, don’t put it on until I say so!” Ew gross!” “You guys smell! ” “Why the f*** are you crying? ! “
I cleaned there locker room and there nasty bloody pads allover the place tampons on the floor hair in the showers and looked like shit on towels they don’t flush the toilets after they use them and some toilet seats were left up if you know what I mean
I HV been in and out of Lynnwood since it opened in 2006. I’ve got some experiences to tell. I went again August 2019. The only thing that has changed is maybe they will give us hand sanitizer before they make us put our fingers in our mouths after squatting, spreading and coughing. The pregnant women must do the strip search still because of x-ray machine. Now doesnt getting x rayed alot bad for us?? The deputies don’t care this money isn’t coming out of their pocket. It’s still degrading to this day.
It happened to me also it was my first time in jail so I didn’t know what to expect I can just remember women throwing up it was horrible to this day many years later I throw up very easily I look at other women and thoughts coming to mind very very uncomfortable sometimes I feel ashamed to be a woman especially grabbing your private part to be searched then being forced to put your hands in your mouth I I applaud the woman who brought this to light and hope others will not suffer these lifetime damage
When are. We going to get our payment
I filed, March 23,2019
I was stripped searched over 30 times at Twin Towers and also, outside where all the buses came in with men and women. Have you already had a class action done for Twin Towers?
What was up with the water dropping on my naked self out in the garage when it wasnt even raining outside? I’m not from LA but got picked up there to be extradited. I thought this was SOP. Not only did I feel embarrassed for having a flashlight shined into my ……. I got sick since I didnt get socks or an extra blanket for 3 days. And this was in the winter
Vece
I was strip searched many times during that time. Going to court and then waiting to go to prison. Strip searched outside parking area with temp walls many times 2-3 arrests. Also received the same treatment at Sybil brand which was really bad also. You should sue them for that jail also. How do we find out how many strip searches they are saying we went through? I know they are going through our records to find the instances but what if they miss some because of multiple arrests? Would like this to be over and not drag on another 11 most after settlement.
I wonder if the final hearing will be affected by this freaking Corona Virus
Shoot I hope Corona virus doesn’t interfere.
Agree
Wow! Thank you very much to the brave women who stood up and spoke about these disgusting strip searched every time we came back from court to enter Lynwood Jail. There was times I would question the strip searches. They were so inhuman. The smell of period blood, women in wheelchairs who also had to do the strip was so depressing to watch. Every time I went to court I was mortified to come came back to Lynwood. The lesbian deputies inside the bus garage gave me chills. I was always against to have lesbian deputies do the strip searches. The fact that we had to stand but naked outside in a bus garage was horrible. I remember deputies would leave us in the holding tanks for hours to get searched – by the time they felt like searching us – it was like 11pm. Also, the deputies would feed us after the strip searches – so imagine- We would be getting our dinner at midnight- throw us back in a tank after the strip searched – sometimes for an hour or two before getting walked to our cell. Having court was a nightmare. I would get to my cell at 1am – without a shower. I fought my case for 11 months – God help me remember how many times I was strip searched!
May God do justice for this abuse the system has been doing and hoping it’s not happening any more. It was a very unpleasant experience!
This is just one of the disgusting things you’ll experience in Lynwood jail.
I am traumatized!!!
Yes my name is also Elizabeth I understand what all these women are going through because I am one of them and I was very degraded we all were very degraded and treated badly like we were not human it’s not right for people to treat people like that regardless the situations you are in I will never forget the times we had to go to court because it was like a nightmare yes we didn’t get back to our beds till very late with no shower this is something I do not ever want to go through again something I will never forget being searched among many more women naked having to see other people being degraded for so many reasons besides myself it’s just not right hopefully this matter will be solved and this will not happen to anyone else again I also was traumatized something that I will never forget
THE DEPUTIES RE SO RUDE WHEN THEY SEARCHED US IT WAS
EMBARRASSING
Email administrator you will get your answer regarding the times you were stripsearched
Yes my name is leslie turner I was in there for two years I worked often 7 days a week plus I worked two jobs and strip searching was done two times a day. But wait the raids where you are pulled out of a dead sleep to get yelled at while sitting on cement indian style almost nose to nose ! Those things that took place will never leave my mind. How the entire ordeal was horrible to say the least
Email administrator ,they will let you know how many times your were stripsearched 2-3 business days
May I find out as well please
Amador v. Baca Outreach Administrator
Yes I went threw everything ur saying u hit everything on the nose or if a woman didn’t speak English and didn’t understand what they were saying to do they degraded them and talk so mean to them broke my heart they treated us like animals had us bare foot in a bus garage smh with bloody tampons and pads thrown to the middle while they laugh
Email, Amador v. Baca Outreach Administrator give you will need dob your full name address etc . When you email Administrator they will reply asking you that info have all your info ready than ask them your question ,, how many times you were searched ,,or any question they will reply bout 3 business days ,,,thank you have a good one ,friends
2013 at Lynwood was the worst embarrassing, and humiliating experience. I was in the working dorm being strip search with a group of women after work every day!! Being violated of my personal rights!! Having to spread both of my private parts while deputies shined their flash lights on us. And the worst times were was when I was on my period. At the end of my sentenced I was transfer to twin towers where a also strip search twice in a group of women.
I want to thank the women that were brave enough to speak up without these women none of this would of came to light and the attorneys helping us victims of abuse ,thank you