People held in New York City jails who were strip searched on Rikers Island and then searched again on arrival at the Manhattan court have until Nov. 26, 2026 to claim from a $28 million city settlement. The deadline is a postmark date, and the money is shared among everyone whose claim is approved. The settlement website runs the claims.
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The lawsuit over the second search
The case is Lewis, et al. v. City of New York, et al., No. 23 Civ 2600, according to Claim Depot, a site that tracks settlements. The defendants are the city, its Department of Correction and Commissioner Louis A. Molina. The suit says that mandatory strip searches at the Manhattan Court Division, done after people had already been strip searched before leaving Rikers Island for court, broke the Fourth Amendment and the New York State Constitution.
The settlement site lists a class period of March 28, 2020 through Feb. 29, 2024. Claim Depot adds a split: for people the Department of Correction classified as needing enhanced security, the period starts March 28, 2020, and for everyone else it starts Oct. 1, 2022. Both end Feb. 29, 2024.
Who is in the class
The class is people in Department of Correction custody who were strip searched on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division after being strip searched before they left Rikers. One search is not enough. It takes both, on the same trip to court, and a person can have been through the pair more than once during the class period.
Claim Depot says a claimant also has to appear on the class list the parties compiled. People who were never held at Rikers on a court date, or who were searched only once on the way, are outside the class. Anyone who thinks they fit should file rather than guess, because the administrator checks the claim against its list.
A claim in this case has a Nov. 26 postmark date and a class period that runs across more than three years of court trips. The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a step-by-step filing walkthrough, so the dates, the form and the confirmation are lined up before the envelope or the online submission goes out.
Get the filing walkthrough for the Rikers strip search claim in the Recovery System →
How the $28 million is divided
There is no flat check. Each claimant gets a pro rata share of the fund based on how many qualifying strip searches that person had and how many incidents all claimants submit in total, Claim Depot says. A person searched twice on five court trips has five incidents to claim, not one. The settlement site does not give a dollar estimate, and the final figure depends on the number of valid claims.
Money comes off the top first. Claim Depot lists attorneys’ fees and expenses of up to $9,332,400, up to $500,000 for administration, and $37,500 service awards for each of the two class representatives. Payments can also be reduced by child support liens, certain government liens or judgments.
Payment options, according to the same page, are PayPal, Venmo or a paper check, with a separate JPay option for claimants still in Department of Correction custody.
What the claim asks for
The claim form is online through the administrator’s portal, and a printed form can be mailed. The settlement site says paper forms must be postmarked no later than Nov. 26. Claim Depot says the form asks for a name, address, date of birth and Social Security or tax ID number. A relative handling the claim of a class member who has died must send proof of death and papers showing authority to act for the estate.
The administrator is Verita Global. Claim Depot lists its mailing address as P.O. Box 301132, Los Angeles, CA 90030-1132, its phone number as 888-808-6084, and its email as [email protected].
Options other than filing
A class member has other choices, and each carries a price. Doing nothing means no payment and giving up the right to sue over the same searches. Opting out, which also has a Nov. 26 deadline according to Claim Depot, keeps the right to sue separately but brings no payment. Objecting in writing or asking to speak at the hearing is also allowed. If the court rejects the settlement at final approval, it is void and the lawsuit goes on. Claim Depot lists a fairness hearing on Jan. 29, 2027.
Filing the Rikers claim before the postmark date
The claim form and instructions are on the settlement website. Anyone mailing a paper form should send it so the postmark lands on or before Nov. 26, and keep a photo of the filled-out page.
Before starting, a claimant can write down what is known: the approximate years of custody, the number of court trips, and any inmate numbers or case dates that help match the record. The administrator, not the claimant, holds the class list, so these notes only help fill in the form.
Questions go to Verita at the phone number or email above. Calling is better than guessing on a point that the form does not explain, since a claim that misses the postmark date cannot be fixed afterward.
Nov. 26 is one of many claim deadlines
Settlements like this one each carry their own cutoff, and the dates are easy to lose track of. MoneyPilot lists open class-action settlements and shows which ones may match you, and it tracks deadlines and payout status. It is a paid subscription service.
Track open class-action deadlines like Nov. 26 with MoneyPilot →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
