Story highlights University of California would pay $30,000 each to 21 plaintiffs in a class-action suit

A federal court has yet to approve the settlement, officials say

Davis campus police pepper-sprayed seated student protesters at an Occupy camp

A video of the close-range pepper spraying went viral last year

The University of California is offering to pay $30,000 to each of 21 protesters who were pepper-sprayed by a campus policeman last year, according to a proposed out-of-court lawsuit settlement.

If approved by a federal court, the deal could end the suit by demonstrators at an Occupy Movement encampment who were protesting tuition hikes and university privatization. Plaintiffs said police violated their civil rights and a school report called the spraying "objectively unreasonable."

The campus police officer who pepper-sprayed the protesters was no longer working at the school as of late July. The school declined to say whether the officer, Lt. John Pike, quit or was let go.

Video footage of Pike spraying student demonstrators with the irritant at close range went viral, provoking widespread criticism of school authorities and making him a target of Internet ridicule.

Under the pending agreement, which was announced Wednesday, the University of California would also pay $250,000 to plaintiffs' attorneys. It also would set aside a $100,000 fund to pay as much as $20,000 to each individual who joins the class-action suit and can prove he was pepper-sprayed or arrested during the protest.

Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A participant in the Occupy Wall Street protest is arrested during a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the movement in New York on Monday, September 17, 2012. Hide Caption 1 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Participants in Occupy Wall Street take part in a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the movement on Monday. Hide Caption 2 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Participants in the Occupy Wall Street protest take part in a rally to mark the one-year anniversary of the movement on Monday. Hide Caption 3 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – An Occupy Wall Street participant is arrested by police on Monday. Hide Caption 4 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – An officer warns people they will be arrested for blocking a sidewalk during the Occupy Wall Street protest on Monday in New York. Hide Caption 5 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A protester is arrested during the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Monday. Hide Caption 6 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A protester is arrested during the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Monday. Hide Caption 7 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Protesters affiliated with Occupy Wall Street are arrested while attempting to form a "People's Wall" to block Wall Street on Monday. Hide Caption 8 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A protester affiliated with Occupy Wall Street stands near Wall Street on Monday. Hide Caption 9 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Protesters block a street near Wall Street during the one-year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Monday. Hide Caption 10 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A protester looks out from a police van after being arrested on Monday. Hide Caption 11 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A man walks by a police blockade along Wall Street during Occupy Wall Street demonstrations on Monday. Hide Caption 12 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Police on horseback stand guard along Wall Street on Monday. Hide Caption 13 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Protester Etkar Surette is arrested during Occupy Wall Street demonstrations on Monday. Hide Caption 14 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – People have their identification checked at a police blockade along Wall Street on Monday. Hide Caption 15 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Protesters are arrested during Occupy Wall Street demonstrations on Monday. Hide Caption 16 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Protesters are arrested during Occupy Wall Street demonstrations on Monday. Hide Caption 17 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – An Occupy Wall Street protester is arrested by police on Broadway after a march from Washington Square Park to New York's financial district on Saturday, September 15. Hide Caption 18 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Members of Occupy Wall Street march from Washington Square Park to New York's financial district on Saturday. Hide Caption 19 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A police officer gives orders to Occupy Wall Street protesters on Saturday. Hide Caption 20 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – An Occupy Wall Street protester, who said she was not acting as part of the overall Occupy movement but as an individual, lights an American flag on fire during the march in New York City on Saturday. Hide Caption 21 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Occupy Wall Street protesters check their cell phones in Washington Square Park on Saturday. Hide Caption 22 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – A member of Occupy Wall Street is arrested during a march from Washington Square Park to the financial district on Saturday. Hide Caption 23 of 24 Photos: Occupy Wall Street: One year later Occupy Wall Street: One year later – Police keep watch after monitoring an Occupy Wall Street march in New York City on Saturday. Hide Caption 24 of 24

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The money would come from the school system's general liability risk program, a self-insured fund, the president's office said.



During the November 2011 protest, about a dozen demonstrators were seated on a path with their arms interlocked as police moved in to clear out members of the Occupy movement who were camped in the area. Officers forcibly removed the demonstrators after they had been sprayed. UC Davis had declared the protest unlawful.

In addition to tuition increases and privatization, the demonstrators were protesting treatment of demonstrators at another campus -- the University of California at Berkeley, according to the proposed settlement.

The plaintiffs alleged their civil rights were violated by being subjected to unlawful arrest and excessive force, the settlement papers said.



U.C. Davis placed Pike, a second officer and Campus Police Chief Annette Spicuzza on administrative leave after the incident.

In addition to calling the spraying an "objectionably unreasonable" use of force, a UC report on the incident accused Pike of misusing his weapon. The bright red pepper-spray canister the officer brandished before spraying was a higher pressure type and "not an authorized weapon" under campus police guidelines, the report said.

The canister was designed to be used at a distance of at least 6 feet and "Lt. Pike did not use it correctly," the report found.

The report also blamed members of the U.C. Davis leadership, citing "systemic and repeated failures" among campus administrators that "put officers in the unfortunate situation in which they found themselves."