People held in New York City Department of Correction custody who were strip searched on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division after already being strip searched before leaving Rikers Island for court may qualify to claim a pro rata share of a $28 million City of New York settlement. Claims close November 26, 2026, and the final approval hearing is set for January 29, 2027.
Current Status
Claims are open. A Claim Form must be submitted online or postmarked no later than November 26, 2026, and that same date is the deadline to exclude yourself or to object. The court has not yet decided whether to approve the settlement: a final approval hearing is scheduled for January 29, 2027 at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Colleen McMahon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and no payment date has been announced. Filing does not depend on the Claim ID and PIN printed on the mailed notice — the claim portal carries a separate route for class members who do not have one.Free settlement alerts
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What Changed Recently?
New York City has agreed to pay $28,000,000 to settle Lewis, et al. v. City of New York, et al., a civil rights class action filed in March 2023 over strip searches conducted at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse at 100 Centre Street. Notice went out to the class and the claim portal is live, with a filing deadline of November 26, 2026.The complaint alleged that the City, the Department of Correction and the DOC Commissioner violated the Fourth Amendment and Article 1, Section 12 of the New York State Constitution by requiring people in custody to be strip searched on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division even though they had already been searched — by pat frisk, clothing search, metal detector, body scanner and a Body Orifice Screening System chair — before boarding a secured Department of Correction bus at Rikers Island. The plaintiffs alleged there was no legitimate penological interest in the second search and no reasonable suspicion that anyone was carrying weapons or contraband, and that the practice was not being applied at the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island courthouses.
The court did not rule for either side. The notice states that the plaintiffs negotiated the settlement with the defendants to avoid the risks and costs of continued litigation and the uncertainty of a trial, and that the class representatives and their attorneys believe it is the best outcome for the class. If the court denies final approval, the settlement is void and the case continues.
This is a separate case from the City's $21.5 million Central Booking settlement, which covers detention conditions rather than court-day searches and has its own class periods, claim form and October 19, 2026 deadline. Someone who was both held at Central Booking and strip searched at the Manhattan Court Division would need to file in each case separately.
The release in this settlement reaches only claims arising out of a strip search conducted by Department of Correction staff at the Manhattan Court Division during the class period. Other civil claims tied to New York City institutions run on their own tracks — the city's amended Gender-Motivated Violence Act, for instance, opened an 18-month lookback window for survivors of institutional sexual abuse, including abuse at city-run juvenile detention facilities, which closes July 29, 2027. That is a different law with different eligibility rules and a separate filing process.
Who Qualifies?
The class covers any individual in New York City Department of Correction custody who was strip searched on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division after having been strip searched before departing Rikers Island for court. Anyone who appears on the Class List — the agreed spreadsheet of class members, which records the dates each person was transported from Rikers to Manhattan Criminal Court and how many times — is presumptively a class member.Two class periods apply, and which one covers you depends on how the Department of Correction classified you. For people classified as Enhanced Security, the class period runs from March 28, 2020 through February 29, 2024. For everyone else it runs from October 1, 2022 through February 29, 2024.
Three groups are excluded: people who already settled a claim with any City of New York entity arising from a strip search conducted by DOC staff at the Manhattan Court Division during the class period; the individual plaintiffs represented by Oddo and Babat in the matter before Judge Kaplan identified in an exhibit to the settlement agreement; and anyone whose claims are barred by a valid and enforceable release with the City.
How Much Can You Get?
The City has agreed to pay $28,000,000 as the Distribution Amount, which is used to pay class member claims. Payments are pro rata: each approved claimant's share is the number of times that person was strip searched on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division after already being searched before leaving Rikers, divided by the total number of such searches claimed across all approved claims. Someone who was transported to Manhattan Criminal Court repeatedly during the class period therefore receives more than someone who went once. No per-claimant estimate has been published, and no estimate is possible until the administrator knows how many valid claims came in and how many searches they cover.The other money in the deal sits outside that pool. The City has separately agreed to pay $500,000 in administrative costs and $37,500 to each of the two class representatives as a service award. Class Counsel will ask the court to award attorneys' fees not to exceed 33.33% of the settlement payout, including class payments, service awards and fees; the defendants reserved the right to object to that request. According to the notice, court-approved fees and costs, the service awards and the administrative costs will not be deducted from the Distribution Amount, so approved claims are paid from the full $28 million.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
No administrator-issued identifier is required. The claim portal opens by asking what you would like to do and offers four routes, and one of them is to file a claim online securely with no Claim ID and PIN at all. A class member who never got the mailed notice, or no longer has it, can still complete the whole claim on the settlement website. The remaining routes cover filing online with the Claim ID and PIN from a notice, and getting a personalized claim form to send in by post with or without those codes.The Claim Form asks for your name, and then for your NYSID number and/or the applicable book and case number, your Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number, and your date of birth — each qualified in the notice as "if known." It also asks for your custody history: the starting and ending dates of each period in custody and the book and case number for each. Anyone currently in New York State custody is asked for a Department Identification Number, facility name and facility state. Claimants sign an attestation swearing under the laws of their state that the information is true and correct to the best of their recollection.
The form also asks how you want to be paid. The options are PayPal, Venmo or a check, plus JPay for claimants who are currently in New York State custody.
What Is the Deadline?
November 26, 2026. A Claim Form must be submitted online through the settlement website or mailed and postmarked by that date. The notice does not specify a submission time or time zone, so only the date applies.The same date governs the other two options. A written request to be excluded must be postmarked no later than November 26, 2026, must state the name, date of birth and address of the person asking to be excluded, must clearly say that the person elects to be excluded from the settlement class, and must be signed by that person. An objection must be filed with the court and postmarked by the same date, with copies mailed to Class Counsel, Defense Counsel and the Settlement Administrator, and the notice sets out nine items every objection must contain — including the case name and number, the reasons for the objection, prior class action objections by the objector or their attorney within the past five years, whether the objector intends to appear at the hearing, and the objector's own signature.
How Do You Take Action?
File through the official settlement website, NY Strip Search Settlement, which hosts the claim portal, the long-form notice in English and Spanish, the case documents and the deadline list. Choose the filing route that matches whether you have the Claim ID and PIN from your notice, complete the claimant information and custody history, pick a payment method, sign the attestation and submit — or print the form and mail it so it is postmarked by November 26, 2026. Class members who received a hard-copy Claim Form can return it in the pre-paid envelope that came with it.What Happens Next?
The court will hold a final approval hearing on January 29, 2027 at 10:00 a.m. at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 500 Pearl Street, and will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. It will consider properly filed objections, may hear from class members who asked to speak, and will also rule on attorneys' fees, costs and the service awards. Attendance is not required, and a class member who filed an objection does not have to appear for it to be considered.If the court grants approval, appeals are still possible, and the notice cautions that resolving them can take more than a year. Settlement payments are distributed after the settlement is approved and becomes final. No payment date has been announced.
Sources and Verification
The figures, dates and class definitions on this page come from the court-approved long-form notice and the online Claim Form for Lewis, et al. v. City of New York, et al., No. 23 Civ. 2600 (CM), published on the official settlement website, together with the class action complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on March 2, 2023. The notice is embedded below. The case is before Judge Colleen McMahon, and Verita administers notice and claims.Questions
Can I file if I never received a notice with a Claim ID and PIN?
Yes. One of the claim portal's four filing routes is to file online securely with no Claim ID and PIN at all, so a class member who never got the mailed notice can still complete the whole claim on the settlement website using the identifying details they already know. A printed form is also offered for anyone who would rather send one in by post.
Does the class period depend on my security classification?
Yes. The notice defines two class periods. For people the Department of Correction classified as Enhanced Security, the period runs from March 28, 2020 through February 29, 2024. For everyone else it runs from October 1, 2022 through February 29, 2024. A search outside the period that applies to you is not covered.
What if I was strip searched at a courthouse outside Manhattan?
The class covers searches on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division only, and only where the person had already been strip searched before leaving Rikers Island for court. Searches at the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island courthouses are outside the class definition in this settlement.
How is each payment calculated?
The $28 million distribution amount is divided pro rata. Each approved claimant's share is the number of times that person was strip searched on arrival at the Manhattan Court Division after already being searched before leaving Rikers, divided by the total number of such searches claimed by everyone whose claim is approved. No per-claimant estimate has been published.
Can I file if I am still in custody?
Yes. The claim form asks people currently in New York State custody for their Department Identification Number, facility name and facility state, and it offers payment by JPay for anyone in that situation. Claimants who are not in custody can choose PayPal, Venmo or a check instead.
What happens if I do nothing?
A class member who does not file a claim receives no payment and is still bound by the release if the court approves the settlement, which means giving up the right to sue the City over the searches this case covers. Excluding yourself by November 26, 2026 is the only way to keep that right, and it also forfeits any payment.
