CALIFORNIA: UC Davis To Pay $1M To Students Pepper-Sprayed By Cop

Last week I reported that the above police officer had gotten off with no criminal charges. But at least today we learn the amount of the settlement to be paid to students by UC Davis.

The details of the settlement, approved in secret earlier this month by the regents, are contained in documents filed in federal court in Sacramento this morning. The deal, hammered out in mediation sessions after 21 students and former students sued last February, still must be approved by a federal judge. It calls for each of the 21 plaintiffs to receive $30,000 for a total payout of $630,000. The agreement also transforms the suit into a class action, which will allow others who were hit with pepper spray during the Nov. 18 protest to submit claims for payments of up to $20,000. That part of the deal envisions five to 10 additional claimants coming forward, with a sliding scale that reduces the payout for each of those depending on the final tally. Those claimants wil be paid from a pool of money limited to $100,000. In addition, the settlement calls for the payment of $250,000 in legal fees and costs to the lawyers who filed the suit.