Top Civil Rights Personal Injury Settlements

$45 Million New Haven Settlement for Randy Cox, Paralyzed in the Back of a Police Van, the Largest Police-Misconduct Settlement in U.S. History

Ben Crump, with Connecticut co-counsel Louis Rubano and R.J. Weber, secured a $45 million settlement from the City of New Haven for Richard "Randy" Cox, who was left paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown headfirst into the wall of a police transport van while handcuffed. At announcement it was described as the largest settlement ever reached in a U.S. police-misconduct case, surpassing the George Floyd settlement.

$27 Million Minneapolis Settlement for the Family of George Floyd, the Largest Pretrial Civil Rights Wrongful-Death Settlement in U.S. History

Ben Crump, with co-counsel Antonio Romanucci and L. Chris Stewart, negotiated a $27 million settlement between the family of George Floyd and the City of Minneapolis, announced by the family's lawyers as the largest pretrial settlement of a civil rights wrongful-death claim in American history. The city council approved the payment unanimously in March 2021, while jury selection in Derek Chauvin's murder trial was underway blocks away.

Army Veteran Paralyzed at Police Traffic Stop Wins $20 Million Settlement from Yuba City

Gregory Gross, an Army veteran, was left paralyzed after Yuba City officers slammed him to the ground during a 2020 traffic stop, breaking his neck; Moseley Collins secured a $20 million settlement in July 2023.

Minneapolis Pays $20 Million to the Family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, Killed in Her Own Alley by the Officer She Had Called for Help

Justine Ruszczyk Damond called 911 to report a woman screaming behind her house, then walked out in her pajamas to meet the squad car. Officer Mohamed Noor shot her from the passenger seat. Minneapolis settled with her family for $20 million in May 2019, more than four times the largest police payout in the city's history.

After trial: Settlement agreed and approved; the civil case is final and was paid in full. The family directed $2 million of the $20 million to the Minneapolis Foundation's Fund for Safe Communities. See more

City of Rochester Settles Daniel Prude Wrongful Death Suit for $12 Million

Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Rochester man in the middle of a mental health crisis, died in March 2020 after police officers put a spit hood over his head and held him face down on the pavement until he stopped breathing. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from asphyxia during restraint, though a state grand jury declined to indict the officers. Elliot D. Shields of Roth & Roth, LLP filed the family's federal civil rights suit against the City of Rochester in September 2020. On October 6, 2022, a federal judge approved a $12 million settlement, split evenly between pain-and-suffering and wrongful death claims, with the city admitting no liability.

After trial: A federal judge approved the settlement on October 6, 2022. It was funded by the City of Rochester as an institutional defendant, making it a collectable, paid result rather than an award against individual officers. See more

$12 Million Settlement and Sweeping Police Reforms for the Family of Breonna Taylor, Killed in a Botched Louisville Raid

Ben Crump, alongside Louisville co-counsel Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker, settled the wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Breonna Taylor's mother against the City of Louisville for $12 million, the largest police-misconduct payout in the city's history, paired with a package of policing reforms the family made a non-negotiable condition of the deal.

$11.75 Million Settlement After Jail Deputies Saw an Unconscious, Beaten 18-Year-Old on Two Walkthroughs and Kept Walking

Brian Ortiz, 18, was beaten by another inmate at Maricopa County's Fourth Avenue Jail; deputies saw him unconscious during two separate walkthroughs and did not intervene, and he did not reach a hospital until more than two hours after the assault. Maricopa County settled the resulting civil rights lawsuit for $11.75 million.

After trial: The case settled in 2022 without a trial, so there was no verdict for either side to appeal. No further litigation between the Ortiz family and Maricopa County has been publicly reported.

$10 Million Settlement From the City of Columbus for the Family of Andre Hill, an Unarmed Man Shot by Police While Holding His Cellphone

A legal team led by Ben Crump negotiated a $10 million settlement between the City of Columbus and the family of Andre Hill, an unarmed 47-year-old Black man fatally shot by officer Adam Coy while walking out of a garage holding his cellphone. The city council's May 2021 approval made it the largest settlement in Columbus history.

Family of Man Killed by Drunk Off-Duty Detective Settles With Chicago for $10 Million

Early on April 10, 2009, off-duty Chicago police detective Joseph Frugoli, driving with a blood alcohol level about three times the legal limit, slammed his SUV into a car stopped on the shoulder of the Dan Ryan Expressway with a flat tire. The car caught fire and both occupants, 23-year-old Andrew Cazares and 21-year-old Fausto Manzera, were killed. The families sued Frugoli and the City of Chicago, arguing a departmental 'code of silence' had let Frugoli drink and drive for years without discipline. The city settled in December 2017 during closing arguments, and the Chicago City Council approved the payout on February 28, 2018: $20 million total, split evenly between the two families. Timothy Cavanagh and Michael Sorich were attorneys of record for the Cazares side, which took $10 million; Kevin Conway of Cooney & Conway represented the Manzera family.

After trial: This was a civil settlement against the City of Chicago and did not affect Frugoli's separate criminal case; he had already pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI and leaving the scene of a fatal crash and was serving an eight-year sentence, with release scheduled for April 2019. No appeal followed the settlement. See more

$10 Million Settlement After a 26-Year-Old Woman Died of Dehydration During Untreated Heroin Withdrawal in the Washington County Jail

The parents of Madaline Pitkin, who died in the Washington County Jail in Hillsboro, Oregon in 2014 while going through untreated heroin withdrawal, recovered a $10 million settlement from Washington County and its jail medical contractor, Corizon Health, after a federal judge approved the deal in December 2018.

After trial: The case settled before trial. A federal judge approved the $10 million settlement, split between Washington County and Corizon Health, on December 7, 2018.

Jackson County Pays $7.25 Million After Man Died Of Dehydration And Malnutrition In Jail Isolation Cell

Joshua McLemore, 29, died on August 10, 2021, after 20 days locked alone in a padded isolation cell at the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown, Indiana, where he had been booked during a psychotic episode linked to untreated schizophrenia. He lost about 45 pounds and, according to the federal complaint, slept roughly 15 hours in total over those three weeks before jail staff sent him to a hospital; he was transferred to a Cincinnati hospital and died there of multiple organ failure. His aunt sued Jackson County, the sheriff and jail staff in federal court on behalf of his estate, and in December 2023 the county's $7.25 million settlement was made public, reported as the largest known payout over a jail death in Indiana. Separate claims against the jail's outsourced medical provider were not part of that settlement.

After trial: This $7.25 million settlement covered only Jackson County, Sheriff Rick Meyer and jail staff. It did not include Advanced Correctional Healthcare or the physician named in the suit; local reporting in March 2024 said the estate and the healthcare contractor reached their own settlement, on terms that were not made public, so no figure from that portion of the case is included here. See more

Family Reaches $6 Million Settlement After Pretrial Detainee Dies of Malnutrition in Arkansas Jail

Larry Price Jr. spent just over a year in the Sebastian County, Arkansas jail awaiting trial on a terroristic threatening charge he could not make $1,000 bail on, and was found dead in his cell on August 29, 2021. He weighed 185 pounds when he was booked, and paramedics who responded to his death estimated his weight at about 90 pounds; the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory listed the cause of death as acute dehydration and malnutrition. His family's federal lawsuit alleged that Sebastian County and its jail medical contractor, Turn Key Health Clinics, LLC, ignored his deteriorating mental and physical condition, including discontinuing his psychiatric medication and failing to intervene as he ate and drank less over months in custody. Represented by Erik Heipt and Edwin Budge of Budge & Heipt, the family settled with both defendants in 2024 for $6 million, split evenly between the county and Turn Key. The county prosecutor filed no criminal charges over the death, and the case settled before trial with no ruling on liability.

After trial: The case settled before trial, so there was no jury verdict, judgment, or appeal to track. Sebastian County's $3 million share was paid through a public appropriation from its Justice Facilities Capital Fund, with $350,000 contributed by the county's risk management carrier, after the Quorum Court approved the settlement on August 20, 2024. See more

$4.05 Million From Maricopa County After a Man in Mental Health Crisis Was Restrained Face-Down and Left Unattended in a Jail Cell

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a $4,050,000 settlement with the family of Akeem Terrell, a 31-year-old man who died in a county jail cell on New Year's Day 2021 after Phoenix police and sheriff's detention officers restrained him face-down and then left him motionless on the floor without checking on him.

After trial: This settlement resolves the claims against Maricopa County only. The City of Phoenix separately settled its own portion of the case for $800,000; the two payments involved different defendants and different conduct and should not be combined into a single figure.

Booked on Misdemeanors, He Was Beaten, Tasered, Pepper-Sprayed Through a Spit Mask and Strapped Into the Restraint Chair Prisoners Called the Torture Chair. He Was Brain Dead in Two Days. The Sergeant Got Life; the County Paid $3.5 Million.

Jessie Lee Williams Jr., 40, a father of seven, was booked into the Harrison County Adult Detention Center in Gulfport on misdemeanor charges on February 4, 2006. In the booking room Sgt. Ryan Teel and other guards punched and kicked him while he was restrained, Tasered him, pepper-sprayed him through a spit mask, wrapped a soaked sheet over his face and beat him in a restraint chair. He was brain dead by February 6. Teel was sentenced to life. Harrison County settled the family's civil rights suit in July 2007 for $3,500,000.

After trial: A settlement approved and funded in July 2007, so the figure is final by construction and no cap applied. The $3,500,000 is Harrison County's share alone: $1,000,000 from its insurer and $2,500,000 raised by county bonds. See more

$3.25 Million Settlement With Brooklyn Center for the Family of Daunte Wright, Killed by an Officer Who Mistook Her Gun for a Taser

Ben Crump and co-counsel representing the family of Daunte Wright reached a $3.25 million settlement with the City of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, over the 2021 traffic-stop shooting in which officer Kim Potter fired her handgun after shouting "Taser." The agreement, announced in June 2022, also called for changes to the department's policing practices and ranked among the largest civil rights wrongful-death settlements in Minnesota history.

The Cell Door Locks at the Hinds County Jail Had Been Broken Since It Opened in 1994. A Prisoner Jimmied One, Got In, and Body-Slammed a 23-Year-Old Until He Was Paralyzed From the Chest Down.

On March 12, 2007 Michael Burnley, 23, was in his cell at the Hinds County jail in Raymond when another prisoner, John Earl Kennedy, jimmied the faulty lock on the door, got in, and repeatedly body-slammed him. Burnley was left paralyzed from mid-chest down. Sheriff Malcolm McMillin acknowledged the cell locks had been faulty since the jail opened in 1994, a fourteen-year-old defect that cost about $20,000 to fix. The county settled his Section 1983 suit on April 21, 2008 for $3,000,000.

After trial: A settlement approved by the Hinds County Board of Supervisors on April 21, 2008, so the figure is final by construction and no cap applied; the county's insurer covered a third of it and the county funded the rest in installments beginning in May 2008. Collectability: the payer is a county under a board-approved installment schedule; Prison Legal News reports the schedule, not its completion, so the disclosure stays at not public. See more

Mother of Unarmed Bystander Shot in the Face by a Chicago Police Officer on a CTA Platform Wins $12.5 Million Verdict, Later Settles for $3 Million After Reversal

On March 8, 2003, Chicago police officer Alvin Weems shot 23-year-old Michael Pleasance in the head at the 95th Street Red Line station while trying to break up a fight in which Pleasance was only a bystander. CTA surveillance video contradicted the officer's claim that Pleasance lunged for his gun, and the City admitted liability, so the May 2007 trial was on damages alone. A Cook County jury awarded his mother $12.5 million for loss of society. The Illinois Appellate Court reversed in December 2009 over prejudicial closing arguments and a jury instruction, and the City settled for $3 million in March 2011.

After trial: The $12.5 million verdict did not stand. The Illinois Appellate Court reversed it on December 14, 2009 (Pleasance v. See more

St. Anthony's Insurer Pays $2.995 Million to Philando Castile's Mother, Ten Days After the Officer Who Shot Him Was Acquitted

Philando Castile told a St. Anthony officer he was carrying a licensed firearm and was shot seconds later during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. After the officer's acquittal, his mother settled the family's wrongful death claims for $2.995 million without ever filing a federal lawsuit.

After trial: Settlement paid by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, the City of St. Anthony's insurer, and subject to state court approval; final. See more

Their Twelve-Year-Old Daughter Died at the Residential Facility Meant to Keep Her Safe. The Case Was Dismissed, Reinstated on Appeal, and Then Settled.

A twelve-year-old girl died while in the care of a residential treatment facility in North Dakota. Her parents' federal civil rights action was dismissed by the district court, reinstated by the Eighth Circuit in 2022, and settled on remand for $2.9 million, reported as the largest known civil rights settlement in the state.

After trial: A settlement, not a verdict, and no court found liability. The procedural history is the notable part: the action was filed in the District of North Dakota on January 7, 2021 as No. See more

An Insulin-Dependent Diabetic Went Seven Days in the George County Jail Without Insulin While the Nurse Called It Meth Withdrawal. He Died. She Got 15 Years for Manslaughter; the County Paid $2.75 Million.

William Joel Dixon, 28, an insulin-dependent diabetic, was held in the George County Regional Correctional Facility in Lucedale in September 2014. For seven days he got no insulin. The jail nurse, Carmon Sue Brannan, dismissed his worsening condition as methamphetamine withdrawal. He died on September 24, 2014 of diabetic ketoacidosis. Brannan was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years. In June 2022 George County agreed to pay his estate, his mother and his children $2,750,000.

After trial: A settlement accepted by the estate on May 27, 2022 and certified as a judgment by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on May 31, 2022, so the figure is final by construction and no cap applied. See more