A court authorized the notice to inform you about a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit and about all your options and associated deadlines. The name of the lawsuit is Stout, et al. v. The GEO Group, Inc., et al., San Diego Superior Court Case No. 37-2019-00000650-CU-CR-CTL.

The notice explains the lawsuit, the settlement, and your legal rights. You are NOT being sued. The Court still must decide whether to approve the Settlement. If the Settlement is approved, money will be available.

The lawsuit contends that GEO and Middle Block violated disability antidiscrimination laws by failing to provide accessible accommodations to persons with medical conditions or disabilities requiring ambulatory aids.  GEO and Middle Block deny that they have violated any law or engaged in any wrongdoing. The parties agreed to resolve the case before these issues were decided by the Court.

The detention facility is the Western Regional Detention Facility located in downtown San Diego. The defendants in the lawsuit are GEO and Middle Block (the “Defendants”). The case is Stout, et al. v. The GEO Group, Inc., No. 37-2019-00000650-CU-CR-CTL.

To view the class action complaint, go to www.bholaw.com/geo/.

To view defendants’ answers to the complaint, go to www.bholaw.com/geo/.

On July 24, 2020, the Court issued an order certifying this case as a class action. Class certification means that the claims will be resolved for all class members at once, except for those persons who ask to be excluded from the class.

The class includes “All disabled persons and persons with medical conditions that require the use of ambulatory aids and who were housed at the Western Region Detention Facility" on or after January 4, 2017. An ambulatory aid includes any device needed to assist mobility, such as a wheelchair, cane, walker, crutches or walking boot.

If you received a summary of this notice by mail, it is because records indicate you may be a class member.  If you believe you are a class member but did not receive a mailed notice, please contact 1-(855) 678-0651 or (619) 338-1100 as soon as possible to request more information and learn how to submit a Claim.

The Court designated Scott Stout and Derrick Felton as the Class Representatives and appointed the law firm of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon, LLP as Class Counsel.

To view the order granting class certification, go to www.bholaw.com/geo/.

In a class action, a person or entity called the “class representative” sues on behalf of others who have similar claims. If the class settlement is approved by the Court, the settlement resolves the case for all class members, except for those who exclude themselves from the Class.

The Class Representatives and Defendants agreed to a settlement to avoid the cost and risk of further litigation and so that the class members may receive payments more quickly. The Class Representatives and Class Counsel believe that the Settlement is in the best interests of all class members.

If you are a class member, the Settlement provides you with a proportionate share of the Settlement money, which is $8 million, gross, based on (i) the total number of days you had a Mobility Disability while housed at the Facility and encountered one or more architectural barriers that caused you difficulty, discomfort, and/or embarrassment, (ii) divided by the total number of days all Class Members had a Mobility Disability while housed at the Facility and encountered architectural barriers that caused them difficulty, discomfort, and/or embarrassment, (iii) multiplied by the Net Settlement Fund.

Claims were graded based on certain categories, including the nature and likely severity of the physical disability as it relates to encounters with the alleged architectural barriers, as well as the likelihood of experiencing difficulty, discomfort, or embarrassment as a result.

Class Members needed to sign and return a Claim Form in order to receive their payment, if they are eligible. Documents supporting your Claim must be provided if the documents are reasonably available to you.

The Claim Form can be found on the Important Documents page of this Settlement Website. The deadline to file the claim form was August 24, 2023, which has passed. 

“Identified Class Members” did not need to submit a Claim Form and will be informed of this separately. Their payment will be automatically provided.

The Defendants have also agreed to fix the alleged architectural barriers at the Facility that Plaintiffs' expert identified.

It is important to keep the Settlement Administrator informed of your current mailing address and contact information. To provide updates, please visit this Settlement Website, call 1-(855) 678‑0651, email info@GEOSettlementSanDiego.com , or mail to:

Stout v. The GEO Group
c/o JND Legal Administration
P.O. Box 91420
Seattle, Washington 98111

The Settlement became final on September 29, 2023. Class members who do not exclude themselves from the class have release Defendants from liability and are not be able to sue the Defendants about the issues in the lawsuit. Section 3 of the Settlement Agreement describes the released claims in necessary legal terminology, so read it carefully. The Settlement Agreement is available on the Important Documents page of this website. You can talk to one of the lawyers listed in Question 13 below for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer at your own expense if you have questions about the released claims.

Payment distributions are anticipated to begin 7 days after the Settlement Effective Date. Provided there are no appeals, this is expected to begin in December 2023. 

If you excluded yourself, you do not get Settlement benefits, but the Settlement will not prevent you from suing, continuing to sue or remaining or becoming part of a different lawsuit against Defendants in the future about the issues in the lawsuit. If you excluded yourself, you are not be bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit.

On September 29, 2023, the Settlement was approved and made final. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up the right to sue Defendants for the claims resolved by this Settlement and you are permanently barred from initiating or continuing any lawsuit or other proceeding against Defendants about the issues in the lawsuit.

The deadline to exclude yourself passed on August 30, 2023. To exclude yourself from the Settlement, you must have mailed a written, signed request for exclusion and included the case name in the exclusion request: Stout, et al. v. The GEO Group, Inc., et al.

The request needed to be maild to:

Stout v. The GEO Group
c/o JND Legal Administration
P.O. Box 91420
Seattle, Washington 98111

The letter needed to include a statement indicating your intent to opt out such as: “I request exclusion from the class in Stout v. GEO.” The letter must have been signed by you and: (i) provided your full name; and (ii) your contact information.

You have the right to seek independent legal advice on whether to stay in or opt-out of the class.

If you are a Class Member, and you did not exclude yourself from the Class, you could have objected to the Settlement if you do not like some part of it or all of it.

To object, you must have sent a written objection signed by you.

The objection must have included: (a) the name of the lawsuit Stout, et al. v. The GEO Group, Inc., San Diego Superior Court Case No. 37-2019-00000650-CU-CR-CTL.; (b) the objector’s full name, telephone number, and address; (c) if represented by counsel, the full name, telephone number, and address of all such counsel; (d) all of the reasons for his or her objection; (e) whether the objector intended to appear at the Final Approval Hearing on his or her own behalf or through counsel; and (f) the objector’s dated, handwritten signature (an electronic signature or attorney’s signature is not sufficient).

Objections must have been mailed to three places:

The deadline to file and Objection with the court and be received by the attorneys passed on August 30, 2023.

Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the class. If you excluded yourself, you had no basis to object because the Settlement no longer affects you. Objecting is telling the Court that you do not like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the class.

If you are a class member and you did nothing, you will remain a class member and all the Court’s orders will apply to you, you will be eligible for Settlement benefits, and in exchange for the benefits you will release Defendants from further liability regarding the issues in the lawsuit.

The Court has appointed lawyers to represent the Class Members. These lawyers are called “Class Counsel”: Timothy G. Blood and Leslie E. Hurst of Blood Hurst and O’Reardon, LLP are Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by another lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense. Class Counsel’s information is as follows:

Timothy G. Blood
Leslie E. Hurst
Blood Hurst & O’Reardon, LLP
501 West Broadway, Suite 1490
San Diego, CA 92101
Tel: (619) 338-1100
Web: www.bholaw.com

The Court awarded Class Counsel attorneys’ fees of $2,640,000 (which is 33% of the Settlement Fund obtained for the Class) and reimbursement of litigation expenses in the amount of $224,237.12, for a total of $2,864,237.12.

The Court also agreed to award each of the two Class Representatives a service award in the amount of $10,000 for the time and effort they spent representing Class Members. Defendants di not oppose the request for service awards in this amount.

The amounts awarded will be paid out of the Settlement Fund.

The Court held a Fairness Hearing at 9:30 a.m. on September 29, 2023, in Department C-66 of the Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Diego, located at 330 West Broadway, San Diego, California. At this hearing, the Court considered whether the Settlement was fair, reasonable, and adequate. If there were objections, the Court considered them. After the hearing, the Court decide to grant final approval of the Settlement on September 29, 2023.

No. The date of the hearing has not passed. Class Counsel answered any questions the Court had. But you were welcome to come at your own expense. If you sent an objection, you did not have to come to Court to talk about it – but you could have if you provided advance notice of your intention to appear (see Question 17). As long as you filed and served a written objection with all of the required information on time, the Court considered it. You may have also paid another lawyer to attend, but it was not required.

You or your attorney may have asked the Court for permission to speak at the Fairness Hearing. To do so, you must have sent a letter saying that it is your “Notice of Intention to Appear in Stout et al. v. The GEO Group, Inc. et al., No. 37-2019-00000650-CU-CR-CTL” to the Clerk of Court so that it was received by the Court no later than August 30, 2023. You must have included the name, address, and telephone number, and signature of the Class Member, and, if represented by an attorney, the full name, telephone number, and address of all such counsel. You must have also sent a copy of your Notice of Intention to Appear to Class Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel at:

The notice summarizes the proposed settlement. More details are in the Settlement Agreement. You can get a copy of the Settlement Agreement and other information about the Settlement at on the Important Documents page of this website. You can also look at the documents filed in the lawsuit at the Court at the address provided above in response to Question 11.

The Court held a Fairness Hearing at 9:30 am on September 29, 2023. After the hearing, the Court decided to grant final approval of the Settlement on September 29, 2023.