Only the six named plaintiffs in Ronduen v. GEO Group, the lawsuit over disinfectant misuse at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, qualify for cash payments.
The other roughly 2,700 former detainees in the settlement class receive no automatic payout. Seven current and former detainees filed the case on March 20, 2023, according to the University of Michigan Civil Rights Clearinghouse. They alleged GEO Group poisoned detainees by misusing HDQ Neutral, a commercial disinfectant, at Adelanto.
Official resources:
- Read the official notice from Trialimpact — Use this primary source to verify the official announcement.
- Read the original report from Website Files — Use this primary source to review the complete report.
Table of Contents
- What happened at Adelanto?
- Who is in the qualifying group?
- Who gets money?
- What can class members do now?
What happened at Adelanto?
Guards sprayed HDQ Neutral every 15-30 minutes in all housing units during 2020. Spraying occurred while people slept and ate, without proper masks or protective equipment, according to the Trial Impact Project. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency inspected Adelanto by video on July 29, 2020. In a March 2, 2021 Notice of Warning summarized in the federal court order on class certification, the U.S. District Court reported EPA found GEO used the product inconsistently with its label, in violation of federal pesticide law, without required goggles and chemical-resistant gloves.
Who is in the qualifying group?
The qualifying class covers about 2,700 people detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center between March 11, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2020 who were exposed to HDQ Neutral during that window, according to the Trial Impact Project settlement summary.
Check these three points together: Membership depends on detention location, dates, and exposure. Time outside that date range does not count.
- detained at Adelanto ICE Processing Center, not another facility
- present for any period from March 11, 2020 through Sept. 30, 2020
- exposed to HDQ Neutral spraying in housing units during that stay
Who gets money?
Money is limited to the six named plaintiffs under a separate confidential track. The Ninth Circuit Library summary of the Sept. 25, 2026 approval reported those payouts as expected six-figure amounts.
Class members do not share that fund. The class settlement provides only declaratory relief that sufficient HDQ Neutral exposure can cause permanent respiratory, eye and skin damage, as described in the Ronduen settlement class notice. It awards no money damages to the class.
What can class members do now?
The declaration does not pay automatically, but it can support a later individual injury claim. Former detainees in the date range should preserve detention records and medical records now. They should also monitor the official settlement site for the final-approval hearing.
Judge Jesus Bernal preliminarily approved the class settlement on Sept. 25, 2026 and ordered GEO to post the long-form notice in English, Spanish, Mandarin, French and Hindi, according to the preliminary-approval order. Keep copies of intake papers, housing assignments, sick-call slips, and treatment records in one place.