In 2013, RBGG and co-counsel sued the County of Monterey and its for-profit medical provider, California Medical Group, Inc. (“CFMG,” also known as “Wellpath”), challenging dangerous and unconstitutional conditions in the County’s Jail. The case settled in 2015 and the Court approved remedial Implementation Plans in 2016.
On May 11, 2023, RBGG filed a motion in federal court to enforce the Settlement Agreement and CFMG Implementation Plan in the case that had been approved by the Court in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
On September 26, 2023, the court granted Plaintiffs’ Motion to Enforce the Settlement Agreement and Implementation Plan in the Monterey County Jail litigation, Hernandez v. County of Monterey, N.D. Cal. No. 13-cv-02354-BLF. The court’s order is here.
In its September 26 order, Judge Beth Labson Freeman found CFMG out of compliance with 43 remedial requirements related to medical, mental health, and dental care. Judge Freeman found CFMG’s request to deny Plaintiffs’ Enforcement Motion “not only frivolous, but also offensive,” and concluded that CFMG’s “continued failure to comply with its obligations … creates a serious risk of harm to the health and well-being of the entire inmate population of the Jail.”
The Court ordered CFMG to come into compliance within six months or face a $25,000 fine per issue, to be reassessed every six months. The fine is owed to the Court itself. The Court rooted its assessment of contempt sanctions in its finding that CFMG “ has left it no viable option but to impose coercive sanctions in the form of a conditional fine in the hope that a threat to its bottom line may galvanize [CFMG’s] compliance where other measures have failed.” Judge Freeman directed the parties to file future neutral monitoring reports on the public docket.
“Judge Freeman’s order confirms what CFMG has long known—that it is providing inadequate medical, mental health, and dental care to the thousands of individuals who are incarcerated in the Monterey County Jail each year, ” said RBGG’s Van Swearingen, counsel for Plaintiffs. “As a for-profit company, CFMG is incentivized to skimp on its provision of health care. We are hopeful that the threat of significant fines will spur CFMG to do better, and to come into compliance with its court-ordered obligations.”
On October 29, 2024, Judge Freeman entered an order approving a stipulation filed by the parties requiring CFMG to pay civil contempt fines for failing to come into compliance with its Court-ordered obligations regarding the provision of medical, mental health, and dental care to people incarcerated at the Monterey County Jail (the “Jail”). The full amount of fines has yet to be determined, but will range between $250,000 and $1,000,000.
Plaintiffs have proposed that the fines, which initially must be paid to the Court, be directed to grants to Monterey County nonprofit organizations for the purposes of supporting formerly incarcerated peopleand families of individuals who are currently incarcerated at the Jail.
“This is an important victory for the people of Monterey County,” said Caroline Jackson, Senior Counsel for RBGG. “Individuals incarcerated at the Jail have faced shocking levels of healthcare neglect since this case was first filed in 2012, leading to preventable harm and even deaths. We hope this stipulated order requiring CFMG to pay monetary fines for its non-compliance will coerce the company to provide high-quality care to incarcerated individuals in the Jail.”