Three former San Francisco county jail inmates have filed a legal claim against the city and county charging deputies with forcing them to fight each other for entertainment while they were locked up.

Ricardo Palikiko-Garcia, Stanley Harris and Keith Dwayne Richardson accused the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department of cruel and unusual punishment and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the filing Thursday, which is a precursor to a lawsuit.

The men came forward in March with the allegations that four deputies arranged and gambled on fights between Palikiko-Garcia and Harris at County Jail No. 4, located at the Hall of Justice. The allegations, made public on behalf of the former inmates by Public Defender Jeff Adachi, spurred an independent FBI investigation.

“We feel strongly that when an inmate goes into custody, he will not be subjected to the whims and pleasure of some deputy who wants to engage in sportsmanship at his expense,” said civil rights attorney John Burris, whose office is representing the men. “Hopefully this will send a clear message that deputies need to act within the range of professionalism and if you go outside that range, you will be punished for it.”

The claim detailed the racially and sexually charged environment allegedly created by Deputy Scott Neu and other deputies through fear and threats of retribution. The former inmates also claim other deputies either encouraged the bad behavior or looked the other way when it happened.

Palikiko-Garcia and Harris said they were forced to bruise and bloody each other through threats of violence. Neu would “train” Harris, who was overweight, humiliating him by making him work out in front of everyone and giving his food to other inmates.

Harris said Neu’s threats at times would get sexual. Neu would take off his shirt and try to make Harris “go a round,” and would often threaten to “take his cheeks,” a reference to anal sex, according to the claim.

“On one occasion, Deputy Neu bragged about taking Mr. Harris’ cheeks while he stood behind Mr. Harris,” the claim states. Harris feared that if he retaliated, Neu would “charge him with assaulting an officer,” according to the claim.

Neu did not touch Harris then because another deputy interrupted him, the claim states. Neu told the other deputy that he and Harris were just working out.

Neu has a history of allegedly sexually abusing inmates. The city doled out a total of $97,500 to settle lawsuits brought by one female inmate and two male inmates transitioning to women who accused Neu of sexually assaulting them in 2005 and 2006.

Although Richardson, the inmate who contacted the public defender’s office about the alleged fights, said he was never forced to brawl like Palikiko-Garcia and Harris, he said Neu once tried to make him fight a white inmate, intentionally trying to stir up racial tensions by calling Richardson a n—.

He corroborated much of the two other inmates’ accounts, including Neu’s habit of making them gamble for food, television and work privileges.

While they previously named Neu as the ringleader and deputies Eugene Jones, Clifford Chiba and Evan Staehely as active participants, the claim also named Crystal Collins and Francisco Aquino as two deputies who witnessed one of the fights, but were waved off by Neu.

“They had a responsibility to stop it and come forward,” Burris said.

The Sheriff’s Department did not immediately return calls for comment.

Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo