St. Louis has agreed to pay a totala of $4 million to people detained at the former Medium Security Institution, known as the Workhouse.
People detained for five or more days anytime from Nov. 13, 2012, through June 2022 will be eligible. ArchCity Defenders, the firm that represented the detainees, said about 16,000 people might qualify. The firm has published a website with information on how to file a settlement.
The lawsuit was filed in November 2017. It alleges abuse at the jail, rodent-infested living conditions, lack of air conditioning and civil rights violations against detainees.
“They treat dogs at the shelter better than they treated us,” a plaintiff and former Workhouse detainee Jasmine Borden said in a statement. “It’s nice to be compensated with the settlement, but I can’t get back any of the time that I was dealing with being locked up and being away from my kids in that unsuitable environment.”
The clients have gone through a long fight, ArchCity Defenders Executive Director Blake Strode said.
“I think that they are taking some solace in the fact that now the city is actually paying people for some of the harm that they suffered,” Strode said.
The settlement still needs approval by a district judge before it’s finalized. Each plaintiff’s payout will depend on how long that person was detained at the jail over those 10 years and how many people file for the settlement.
Workhouse conditions have been one of the city’s biggest controversies over the past decade. Former Mayor Tishaura Jones emptied the workhouse in 2021, and demolition of the jail began earlier this year.
The settlement was reached with the former mayor's administration. St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said during a briefing Tuesday that her administration will support the settlement.
“We’ll be moving forward at the advice of the courts,” Spencer said.
Strode said there isn’t an exact date for when the settlement could be finalized. The court will set a date for a hearing to seek preliminary approval. The court will then issue an order, and, if approved, a class notice process will begin in which people can make claims to receive recovery from the settlement.
“The fact that we are now here with a jail that is being defunded, partially — mostly — demolished, and now that they are getting some monetary recovery for themselves and for thousands of other people, I just think it's hugely significant,” Strode said. “I'm really proud to have represented them over these years in that fight.”
