Summary
The city of Brentwood, California, will pay $967,000 to Talmika Bates to settle a lawsuit over excessive force after a police K-9 tore her scalp during a 2020 arrest for alleged shoplifting.
Bates, who sustained severe injuries, including traumatic brain injury and PTSD, was unarmed and hiding when the dog bit her head.
A federal judge previously limited the officer’s qualified immunity, deeming the prolonged dog attack potentially excessive force.
The city settled to avoid litigation costs, and the police department currently has no active K-9 units.
$1,000,000 isn’t nearly as much as people think it is. It’s not even enough to retire on if you’re middle aged.
You could live extravagantly for a year or two on that money max.
If you lived modestly at $50,000 a year of expenses (less than the median) you’d get 20 years out of it and you’d have to go back to work if you’re younger than 60.
If you lived comfortably at $100,000 a year you’d get a decade at most of of that money, if you’re younger than 70 you’ll probably have to go back to work.
This article says she was 24 when it happened in 2020, so it’s safe to presume she’s 28 now.
If she’s extra careful with the money and doesn’t spend it on anything fancy she can live until maybe 48 on that amount of money, considering all income is taxable though it’s safe to assume she’ll have to give half of it up to taxes and she could probably stretch it for 10 years to 38. But, seeing as the charge was shoplifting she’s probably not in a good situation financially and almost certainly has no experience managing that kind of money.
She’ll get used to living a lifestyle she can’t maintain and it’ll likely be gone in less than 5 years.
This settlement isn’t making anything right, they’re handing her a curse and it seems cruel to give someone a taste of a lifestyle they’ll never be able to afford again.
This is an insultingly low sum of money and it’s likely to cause her more pain in the long run than anything.
It’s not meant to make her set for life, it’s meant to compensate her for medical care (plus some punitive damages).
Thank you. Damages doesn’t mean “You never have to work again in your life”.
I don’t mean to be callous and obviously what happened to this woman was horrible. She probably deserves more but $1 million is still an amount of money it might take 20 years to generate on a normal income.