BK Detainees Denied Heat During Winter Could Get $10 Million: Suit
SUNSET PARK, NY — Some 1,600 people detained in Brooklyn could see thousands of dollars in payouts in a settlement agreement after facing what lawyers call negligent conditions.
A tentative settlement agreement submitted Friday, first reported by the New York Times, would cost the federal government over $10 million in payouts over freezing cold conditions at Metropolitan Detention Center in 2019, court records show.
A power outage at the Sunset Park facility, notorious for its poor conditions and famous inmates, left detainees without heat, electricity, proper medical attention and visitation for a week in the dead of winter in 2019, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice found.
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Temperatures in the facility dropped to 34 degrees, according to the New York Times.
And the payouts will be significant.
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If completed as proposed, 69 of the inmates would be entitled to $17,500 and another 945 would be owed $8,750 each. Another 554 would be entitled to $2,500 and the two plaintiffs, David Scott and Jeremy Cerda, would be owed $18,750, court records show.
Lawyers will reach out to then-detainees to offer their settlement, court records show.
Eastern District of New York Attorney Breon Peace’s Office declined to comment on the settlement.
In 2019, inmates and union representatives told the New York Times the power outage had caused broad panic and even illness. Detainees were left without extra blankets, hot food and proper medical attention, the Times reported.
The conditions prompted broad outrage and protests both in and outside the jail, as well as a Justice department investigation and attention from then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Protesters once again gathered at the jail in 2020 calling for the release of detainees amid a massive COVID-19 outbreak, Brooklyn Paper reported.
People who were confined at Metropolitan Detention center during the blackout can find more information at this website.
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