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.Â
- We appreciate your ongoing patience. Top Class Actions will continue to provide updates as we learn more. Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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.Â
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:Â 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
[email protected]
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
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
![A woman looking at her computer screen in the office, representing the [24]7.ai settlement.](https://topclassactions.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/shutterstock_2472677939-380x214.jpg)
330 thoughts onL.A. Women’s Jail Strip Search Class Action Settlement
Every women who has ever been to Lynwood knows first hand what a filthy, degrading, de humanizing hell this place is. The guards are the most ignorant and cruel humans I have ever encountered. The cussing, yelling, spitting in your face is constant. One guard cuffed me dragged me up a flight of stairs and smashed my face into the rough concrete walls. I was bleeding heavily she opened the cell and kicked me in. Leaving the cuffs on for hours. I want all of you to call the local news and have this placed investigated. Time to speak up!
This jail is the worse jail I have been to I have been incarcerated in puebla mexico even and that jail is better then this one by far at least there we was able to have dignity and wasn’t put in front of other woman and degraded like this I will never forget my experience there hell I was incarcerated in vernal on suicide watch there and they place you in a completely see through gown and have you up front in the booking cells where men can see you the employees and inmates but do you think I could get help for that matter to no because the law just don’t care about us this is bullshit
Hy cant you call the news wben you do then let us know or at least me and i will tell. Them all about That nasty place and about them Ignorate Police i mean cops who are not even human they need to close that place down and send them Cops to jail..
Everyone that is interested in this should look for judging justice on Facebook looks like judging justice on Facebook is the one who filled the appeal to the settlement again just from what I saw cant guarantee its her but has a lot of info on this appeal
Wtf is paper coming thru?
I know what you all are saying .I’ve been strip searches over 50 time’s getting booked in after court after going to doctors appointment’s.Every female deputy need’s to get striped Searched in that cold bus burn
It’s really unfortunate that it had to come to this…. it is definitely a traumatic ordeal leaving a lifelong scar a memory nobody should ever have to relive….. I never thought I would actually see this day come ….. The level of unprofessionalism by The LAPD is unacceptable…. I remember like it was yesterday ….. my bad decisions and wrong choices in life leading me up to that point is all bad and I own up to it and accepted that treatment in exchange for my mistakes. I felt it’s come to this and this is my punishment……… But as time went by and you change your way of thinking and straighten out your life you start to think more on situations that occurred in life that don’t quite sit well and matter of fact are issues that keep you down or may hold you back from moving forward in life …… by no means am I trying to make excuses for myself because I know where my wrongs are . But I want to point out how very wrong these officers were how unjust and inhumane unprofessional and cruel they treated us inmates. We were there to face our fate… They had no right to treat us like animals time and time again…. They have made a bad name for The LAPD and ruined it for any decent good honorable officers in the future …… Because at the end of the day you still have to live with your conscience.
Well said ?
I got a letter stating that I didn’t qualify and more information was needed yet I was in Lynnwood from January 13th 2009 thru June of 2009 and was transported to Long Beach court multiple times. I was searched on that bus garage along with every other women on the bus with me every single time so I’m really trying to understand how I don’t qualify!
When did you receive that letter?
I was told that the judge had to approve the amount of the settlement, and then the attorneys had to get paid, and then there’s other processing fees, so it was going to take about 3 months before we can see any type of payment. I got stripped searched a couple of times. The first time was when I went in, the second time was when I went to Compton court and I didn’t even have court, and the third time when I finally did have court the following day. I remember women being on their periods, there were guy’s somewhere near by cuz I could hear them laughing, it was a very degrading moment.
The same happened to me! They kept sending me to Pasadena courthouse early in the morning, I was on the bus all day only to be degraded and stripped searched every time I got sent back to Lynwood. No court dates just being bussed back and forth for no reason. The deputies at the courthouse didn’t even know what to do with me.
I swear reading your story i could gave written it myself and them strip searching us everytime we left and came back especially in that cold ass garage when it was late in tbe evening and rainy outside and men could see us the women deputies let them shout rude comments just joked with them at are expanse
That was dissgusting sick. I really hate the way we were treated .also I think we all should get paid equal why because we all went through the same thing in that filthy pigeon shit cold. Dirty place I’m just saying
Update:
On August 11, 2020, the federal district court approved the settlement in this case. On September 10, 2020, a former class member filed an appeal challenging the decision to approve the settlement. The settlement does not become effective and no funds can be issued until the appeal is resolved. Class counsel will request for the Court of Appeals to resolve the appeal as promptly as possible. We do not yet have a timeline or estimate for resolution of the appeal. Additional updates will be posted as they become available.
What is going on?
I am apart of this settlement as well
have not recieved payment yet. also I have another lawsuit I would like updated on:
I was a trustee most of my 16 month term. I signed a contract that every 1 day worked earned 3 days off my sentence. I did not get my credits earned. others got released 3 months early and I worked as long as they did.
I looked at the website and there has been an appeal of the decision. They dont know how long it will take to resolve. They say that they will keep the site updated. The appeal was filed on the 11 of this month