$250,000 Goes to Plaintiffs’ Attorneys; UC Spent More Than $1 Million Defending The Case, With $320,000 to Outside Firm For Protest Response Advice.
As reported by Terence Chea of the Associated Press in a September 26, 2012 release, the University of California has agreed to pay $1 million to 21 plaintiff demonstrators who were pepper-sprayed during an Occupy protest at UC Davis in the fall of 2011. Of that proposed settlement amount, $30,000 goes to each of the 21 plaintiffs while their attorneys split fees from the settlement of an additional $250,000. In handling the aftermath of the pepper-praying, UC spent more than $1 million on the incident if crisis management, independent task force reviews, and internal affairs investigations are included, not to mention the additional $1 million in settlement if the matter is judicially approved. $320,000 was spent by UC for a law firm providing advice on how campuses should respond to protests in the future. The settlement has been filed for preliminary approval with the federal district court located in Sacramento, Ms. Chea reported in her AP release.