SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
The University of California has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a
lawsuit filed by demonstrators who were pepper-sprayed during an Occupy
protest at UC Davis last fall, according to a preliminary settlement
filed Wednesday.
The Nov. 18, 2011, incident prompted national
outrage, angry campus protests and calls for the resignation of
Chancellor Linda Katehi after online videos shot by witnesses went
viral.
Images of a police officer casually spraying orange
pepper-spray in the faces of nonviolent protesters became a rallying
symbol for the Occupy Wall Street movement. The demonstrators had been
protesting steep tuition hikes and police brutality.
Under the
proposed settlement, UC would pay $30,000 to each of 21 plaintiffs named
in the complaint and an additional $250,000 for their attorneys to
split.
Katehi, who has publicly apologized for the incident, would
be required to issue a formal written apology to each of the
plaintiffs, who are current students or recent alumni
UC and
plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union filed the
preliminary settlement in U.S. District Court in Sacramento. The
agreement, which was approved by the UC Board of Regents in
mid-September, is subject to the approval of a federal judge, and
parties have the right to appeal.
The settlement also calls for UC
to set aside $100,000 to pay other individuals who can prove they were
arrested or pepper-sprayed. The university would give the ACLU up to
$20,000 for its work reviewing free speech and protest policies at UC
Davis.
"It was felt that the proposed settlement was in the best interest of the university," said UC spokesman Steve Montiel.
UC officials believe the cost of going to trial would be more expensive than the cost of settling the lawsuit, Montiel said.
Plaintiff
Fatima Sbeih, who recently graduated with an international studies
degree, said she suffered panic attacks and nightmares after she was
pepper-sprayed on the UC Davis Quad.
"I want to make sure that
nothing like this happens again," Sbeih said in a statement. "The
university still needs to work to rebuild students' trust and this
settlement is a step in the right direction."
A task force report
released in April blamed the incident on poor communication and planning
throughout the campus chain of command, from the chancellor to the
pepper-spraying officers, and concluded the situation could have been
prevented.
"The settlement should be a wake-up call for other
universities and police departments," said Michael Risher, staff
attorney with the ACLU of Northern California. "If the First Amendment
means anything, it's that you should be able to demonstrate without
being afraid of police violence."
Last week, Yolo County
prosecutors said the UC Davis officers who fired the pepper-spray won't
face criminal charges because there is not enough evidence to prove the
use of force was illegal.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
