CHARLESTON – A Kanawha County judge has approved a $9.1 million settlement for women who may have been secretly recorded by hidden cameras at the West Virginia State Police Academy.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard approved the settlement September 16 during a final settlement hearing. A previous June 8 order conditionally certified the class and preliminarily approved the settlement, finding the proposed agreement fair, reasonable and adequate at this stage.
Ballard found no objections to the settlement from any class member. The WVSP was directed to wire the $9.1 million to the qualified settlement fund, and funds will be disbursed to qualifying class members by the claims administrator.
The case involved more than 40 depositions, thousands of pages of written discovery, multiple mediations, insurance coverage disputes and coordination across more than 80 individual related lawsuits.
One of the attorneys representing the class said the settlement provides meaningful relief and recognition to the “women whose privacy and dignity were violated” at the academy.
Giatras
“This result belongs first to the women who had the courage to come forward,” Troy Giatras told The West Virginia Record. “They endured deeply personal harm, participated in a demanding legal process and persisted despite the public attention surrounding this case. We are honored to represent them.”
The settlement amount or individual payment amounts will vary based on each class member’s “level of potential temporal exposure.” With the final approval, the case and covered claims are dismissed with prejudice.
The class includes female basic trainees and students, female teachers who were not State Police employees, female cadets, female junior cadets and other women who used the academy’s locker room or bathroom facilities between Jan. 1, 2015, and March 20, 2023, and were exposed to a hidden camera.
The allegations became public after anonymous letters alleged misconduct within the State Police, including hidden recording devices at the academy. Former Cpl. Joseph Comer later acknowledged writing the February 2023 letter. Comer has separately sued the State Police and former officials, alleging retaliation.
Ballard made the settlement class mandatory, meaning class members cannot opt out. With final approval, the settlement releases the State Police and other defendants from known and unknown claims by class members arising from alleged secret recordings or exposure to cameras in the women’s locker room.
“The state and West Virginia State Police only made offers which required that the class must be well defined, that the settlement preclude any and all potential future or other claims arising out of the presence of a camera in the WVSP Academy women’s locker room and that the total settlement amount and terms thereof must be settled as a mandatory class,” Ballard wrote in his June preliminary order.
The class covers female trainees and students who attended a Basic Police Training Class during the period, female cadets who attended a Cadet Class, women invited to teach at the academy and junior cadets who attended the program and resided at the academy from 2015 through 2019. It also includes women who used the locker room or bathroom facilities during the broader 2015-23 period and were exposed to a hidden camera.
Toriseva
In addition to the class, more than 40 individual lawsuits also were filed. Those cases were settled with Ballard’s approval Wednesday as well.
“Our clients are relieved the settlement is final,” Teresa Toriseva, who represented the individual clients, told The Record after Wednesday’s hearing. “It is our hope that something like this never happens again and that the lawsuits helped shine the light on these types of problems. We’re glad changes are being made at the academy so something like this hopefully doesn’t happen again.
“And we’re glad all of the plaintiffs were able to retain their anonymity though the entire legal process. That’s really important in a case like this.”
The order says allegations tied to a hidden camera before Jan. 1, 2015, are foreclosed “based upon the available evidence.” It also says the statute of limitations for people outside the defined class began, at the latest, when the original class certification motion was filed in November 2024.
Ballard also cited public reporting beginning in February 2023, after the anonymous whistleblower letter was sent to then-Gov. Jim Justice, as a factor showing potential claimants had notice of the controversy.
The court appointed R.C., E.G. and C.M. as representative plaintiffs for settlement purposes. Giatras and Matthew Stonestreet of The Giatras Law Firm, Marvin Masters of Masters Law Firm and Robert V. Berthold Jr. of Berthold Law Firm were appointed interim class counsel.
Stonestreet
“The court’s approval of this settlement, with no objections filed by any class member, speaks to how thoroughly and fairly this case was handled on behalf of every woman affected,” Stonestreet told The Record.
The settlement also includes nonmonetary relief. The order says the State Police has undertaken “significant steps” to protect women using the academy in the future, including purchasing and installing equipment intended to improve security and prevent similar privacy violations.
The case is part of a larger wave of litigation involving allegations that women were secretly recorded in locker room and shower facilities at the State Police Academy.
The lawsuits alleged unlawful recording, invasion of privacy and related misconduct, although the State Police and other defendants have not admitted liability.
The litigation had also produced a significant insurance coverage ruling.
In September 2025, Ballard ruled that the National Union Fire Insurance Co. policy provided a $1 million limit per plaintiff rather than a $1 million aggregate limit for all claims, finding each alleged secret recording and invasion of privacy could constitute a separate occurrence, offense and event. The state Supreme Court later dismissed the insurer’s appeal.
“This case represents exactly why we do this work,” Giatras told The Record. “These women – trainees, teachers, cadets and young people who trusted that they were safe at a law enforcement academy – deserved to have someone fight for them, and we are proud to have done that. …
“From the moment this case came to us, we knew it was going to require everything we had – extensive discovery, novel legal arguments, coordination with dozens of individual plaintiffs and relentless advocacy at every stage. We are honored by the trust these women placed in us, and we are gratified that justice has been delivered.”
Stonestreet agreed.
“Today's final approval represents an important step toward justice for the women whose privacy was violated at the West Virginia State Police Academy,” he said. “We are proud to have stood beside these survivors and helped secure accountability and meaningful compensation on their behalf.
“This settlement delivers justice, accountability and meaningful relief for the women whose privacy was violated, and we commend our clients for the courage they showed throughout this litigation.”
Giatras said the attorneys’ attention now turns to implementation.
“We will continue protecting our clients’ privacy and working to ensure that the settlement is administered fairly and faithfully,” he said. “Out of respect for the women and the claims process, we will not discuss individual circumstances, confidential negotiations, or individual recovery amounts.”
The claim administrators are Cary Claim Solutions and Walters Administration.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 24-C-326 (class action)
