The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reached a $1.9 million settlement agreement this month with 13 female inmates who claim they were subjected to “war zone” level violence during a use of force incident in 2024.
The women claim they suffered medical issues including traumatic brain injuries, seizures, respiratory distress and long-term vision problems following an Aug. 2, 2024, operation at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla where inmates were tear-gassed and beaten, according to a complaint filed in federal court against the state’s prison system and several of its employees.
The plaintiffs, ten of whom remain incarcerated, have received payments ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 based on the severity of their injuries, according to their attorney Robert Chalfant. Attorneys have also filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all the women involved in the incident, which is scheduled to go to mediation in May, he said.
The CDCR said in a statement that it had reviewed the situation and made changes.
“The scope and degree of CDCR’s corrective action, which is believed to be one of the largest issued against CDCR staff from a single incident, demonstrates CDCR’s commitment to redressing policy violations,” the department stated.
A total of 41 staff members were found to have violated policy and faced disciplinary actions including termination, transfers to other positions and salary reductions.
The August 2024 incident started shortly after the women were woken up for the day. Correctional officers removed more than 150 incarcerated women from their cells and confined them in a dining hall while conducting a search of their housing unit, the complaint alleges.
The plaintiffs allege in the complaint that the operation was spearheaded by the leader of the Delta Dog prison guard gang in retaliation for the number of sexual misconduct complaints women had filed against guards.
The U.S. Department of Justice in 2024 launched a civil rights investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by staff at the Central California Women’s Facility, following years of lawsuits and complaints from incarcerated women.
The 13 plaintiffs allege they were confined to the cafeteria for hours and denied water, food and medication. The inmates became increasingly agitated and disruptive after they witnessed guards throwing out their personal possessions, according to the complaint.
Guards were then ordered to “use pepper spray, throw tear gas and flash bang grenades, fire rubber bullets and assault and batter the women, even though all of the female inmates were complying with officers’ orders and posed no threat to any officer,” the complaint alleges.
Leaked recordings of the incident reviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle show inmates, including those named in the lawsuit, ducking for cover as tear gas swirls around the cafeteria.
One of the plaintiffs, Wisdom Muhammad, alleges she was told to “shut the f— up” when she asked guards not to pepper-spray her because she has asthma. She alleges she was zip-tied and dragged out of the cafeteria and onto the lawn where she had four tear gas grenades thrown directly at her, one of which exploded next to her face leaving her with a permanent scar, according to the complaint.
“The repeated attacks and violent use of force caused Muhammad to lose consciousness twice, have seizures, and urinate on herself,” the complaint states . “Muhammad eventually regained consciousness in an ambulance with blood all over her, an IV in her arm, and was unable to see out of her left eye.”
Muhammad “hoped that she would die to end the pain and suffering that she was experiencing,” the complaint states. Other women named in the lawsuit describe similar experiences of abuse during the incident, which they claim left them with lasting injuries.
The CDCR did not admit to any wrongdoing or policy changes as part of the settlement agreement.
Chalfant, the women’s attorney, commended his clients’ bravery in pursuing legal action, saying that filing the lawsuit put them at risk of further retaliation in a prison plagued with allegations of sexual assault and abuse.
“It’s one problem after another,” he said. “I’m hoping that the institute will change and that they’ve retrained the officers as to when they can use force, so this kind of stuff doesn’t happen.”
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