Alternative Lifestyle Tank At San Bernardino County Jail Settlement

A recent settlement may pay inmates more than $1,000 if they were housed in the Alternative Lifestyle Tank of the West Valley Detention Center, a San Bernardino County, California jail.

The class action settlement will resolve a lawsuit alleging that jail policies failed to sufficiently protect gay, bisexual and/or transgender inmates housed in the Alternative Lifestyle Tank.

The jail allegedly treated GBT inmates unfairly by doing the following:

• Automatically housed inmates in the Alternative Lifestyle Tank if they self-identified as GBT;
• Failed to provide programs to protect them from the general population inmates;
• Limited their time out of cell in contrast with similarly situated inmates in the general population;
• Denied inmates in the Alternative Lifestyle Tank the same work opportunities provided to the general population inmates;
• Denied inmates a comparable range of religious services to those available to the general population inmates.

Class Members will receive between $40 and $10,000 based on the number of valid claims filed, but awards will reportedly likely exceed $1,000. If 328 individuals file a valid claim, the average recovery would be over $2,400. However, individual awards may vary based on the amount of time spent in the Alternative Lifestyle Tank and other factors.

Class representatives will receive awards between $2,000 and $5,000 for a total of $60,500. Costs of class administration, expert fees, and mediation costs will total around $77,000. Class Counsel plans to ask for $1.1 million in attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Under the class action settlement, injunctive relief will come in the form of an overhaul of the current Alternative Lifestyle Tank. The name of the Alternative Lifestyle Tank will be changed to the GBTI (Gay Bisexual Transgender Intersex) Unit.

Additionally, a Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) GBTI Committee will be established to provide support. The committee will meet with GBTI inmates to determine the best options for housing, classification, work, and programming options.

Injunctive relief also establishes new training guidelines regarding GBTI inmates, particularly transgender inmates.

Who’s Eligible

Individuals who were housed in the Alternative Lifestyle Tank of the West Valley Detention Center, a San Bernardino County jail, between Oct. 22, 2012 and March 31, 2018.

Potential Award

$1,000 (estimated)

Proof of Purchase

N/A

Claim Form

CLICK HERE TO FILE A CLAIM »

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

1/7/2019

Case Name

Dan McKibben, et al. v. John McMahon, et al., Case No. 14-2171-JGB-SP, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Final Hearing

2/11/2019

Settlement Website

www.ALTSettlement.com

Claims Administrator

ALT Settlement
c/o JND Legal Administration
P.O. Box 91307
Seattle, WA 98111
1-844-877-5925
info@ALTSettlement.com

Class Counsel

Barrett S. Litt
David S. McLane
Lindsay Battles
KAYE McLANE BEDNARSKI & LITT

Melissa Goodman
Amanda Goad
Brendan Hamme
Peter Eliasberg
Aditi Fruitwala
ACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Defense Counsel

Nathan A. Oyster
BURKE WILLIAMS & SORENSEN