Seattle Settles George Floyd Protest Lawsuit for $10 Million

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison has agreed to settle the lawsuit for Adberg, et al. v. City of Seattle that began in September of 2020 following protests related to the death of George Floyd.

“This decision was the best financial decision for the City considering risk, cost, and insurance,” Davison said. “The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the city and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May.”

The city admitted no wrongdoing in the case, which was brought by more than 50 protestors who claimed injury, including the named Zoe Adberg.

When Adberg and a group of protesters arrived at the Seattle Police Department headquarters during the protest, officers began launching gas canisters and blast balls. According to the lawsuit, a blast ball struck Adberg’s left foot and then exploded, injuring her foot. Her shoe was scorched from the explosion. Accordingly to court documents the case involved:

• hundreds of interactions between the plaintiffs and law enforcement officers;
• more than a million pages of records;
• more than 10,000 videos;
• hundreds of witness interviews;
• extensive court filings. 

Karen Koehler, lead attorney on the case said “In preparing this case, we were struck by how the police dehumanized the protesters. How quick to attack at the small provocation or suspicion. How many internal policies were not followed.”

The Adberg case comes on top of a previous settlement almost exactly a year ago when the city of Seattle had to reimburse business owners more than $3 million for damages caused by protests during the summer of 2020 and the failure of the city to safeguard local businesses.

City Attorney Davison is looking to move on saying, “The settlement resolves the majority of the remaining claims arising out of the 2020 demonstration period and is a big step toward allowing the City to focus on the important work of today, while moving forward from the events four years ago.”