The $24 Million Brooks Settlement Is New York’s Payment to Robert Brooks’ Estate, Announced September 18, 2026 — It Ends Both Family Lawsuits and Has No Claim Form. The Brooks Case That Pays the Public, TransUnion’s $8,310,000, Has an October 30, 2026 Deadline.

The “Brooks settlement” at the top of search results since mid-September is New York State’s agreement to pay $24 million to the estate of Robert Brooks. Spectrum News reported on September 18, 2026: “The amount of the settlement is $24 million, according to the governor’s office. The Brooks family filed two lawsuits. One was filed in federal court in the Northern District of New York, and another in the New York State Court of Claims. This settlement resolves both suits.” A spokesperson for the governor confirmed the figure to WAMC, which reported that the estate’s attorney, Elizabeth Mazur, filed a letter the same day with the federal court in Binghamton confirming the settlement.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s statement of September 18 did not give a number but said: “It is my hope that this agreement will provide them with some measure of relief in the aftermath of his loss. Robert Brooks should be alive today.” The family held a news conference in the Rochester area on September 21, 2026. Their lawyers said negotiations with the state had begun about six months earlier.

There are two sides to this agreement, the State of New York and Brooks’ estate. There is no settlement fund for the public, no administrator, no claim form and no deadline for anyone else. As of October 14, 2026, we have seen no public breakdown of how the money will be divided within the family or how much goes to attorneys’ fees.

Brooks, from the Rochester area, was transferred from Mohawk Correctional Facility to nearby Marcy Correctional Facility in Oneida County on December 9, 2024. That same day, officers beat him in a medical examination room. Body cameras worn by four of the officers recorded it. The New York Times, in a story carried by the Boston Globe, describes him as “kicked in the groin and punched in the chest while handcuffed and pinned to an infirmary examination table.” According to the medical examiner, he died at 3:52 a.m. on December 10, 2024, from compression of the neck and internal injuries. His death was ruled a homicide.

The two civil suits his estate filed made different claims. The federal suit, filed January 15, 2025 under the federal civil rights statute, argued that the beating violated Brooks’ Eighth Amendment rights. The Court of Claims suit alleged that guards and their supervisors had committed battery or failed to supervise properly. These were allegations in civil cases. The settlement resolves them without a civil trial. WCAX reports that it resolves “all claims against New York State and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision employees in connection with Brooks’ death.”

The corrections department called the events “a dark and painful chapter” in its history. Spectrum reports that more than a dozen prison employees were fired. The killing was followed by a three-week wildcat strike by corrections officers, and lawmakers later required more cameras and other oversight in state prisons.

The question “What did Brooks get sentenced to?” has two answers. Brooks himself was in prison serving a 12-year sentence for assault, after a 2016 stabbing, and was scheduled for release in 2026, according to CNY Central and Spectrum News.

In the criminal case over his death, a special prosecutor charged ten officers in February 2025. One former officer was convicted at trial in October 2025 of murder and manslaughter. On December 19, 2025, he received the maximum sentence, 25 years to life, as prosecutors had asked. Five officers pleaded guilty to manslaughter. On November 21, 2025, two former officers who had first been charged with murder and took plea deals were each sentenced to 22 years. Two who pleaded guilty to manslaughter got three to nine years and two and one-third to seven years. Two officers pleaded guilty to lesser charges, and two were acquitted. The civil settlement does not change any of these sentences.

The payment goes to Brooks’ estate. The public reports do not say when the state will pay or how the amount will be split. Brooks’ son said he plans to use his share to build a foundation for his family. The family also says it is starting a foundation to make prisons safer.

For context: the Boston Globe and the Times report that a 2020 settlement that prison reform advocates viewed as among the largest in state history was $5 million. That was paid to the sister of Karl Taylor, who died in 2015 after guards at Sullivan Correctional Facility beat him. Mazur explained the size of the Brooks settlement this way: “Robert endured extraordinary pain and suffering in the last 24 hours of his life.”

On the federal docket, Brooks v. Farina, an order was entered on October 13, 2026. We could not retrieve its text, so we cannot say whether it closes the case. We will update this page when the docket shows the case dismissed.

TransUnion. Brooks v. Trans Union, LLC, No. 2:22-cv-00048-KSM (E.D. Pa.), is a real class action. It is a $8,310,000 settlement for people whose TransUnion reports, sold between January 6, 2020 and January 31, 2023, showed a bankruptcy remark with no matching public record. The official site, BrooksBankruptcyClassAction.com, says members of the No Bankruptcy Group get “an automatic payment of $100” without filing. Larger payments require a claim form: “You must submit your claim form by October 30, 2026.” Exclusions and objections are also due October 30, 2026, and the final approval hearing is December 2, 2026. The administrator’s number is (888) 279-4003. Our full explainer covers who qualifies.

Bob Brooks. In Pennsylvania, a separate “Brooks settlement” ended a family debt lawsuit against Bob Brooks, the Democratic congressional nominee in the 7th District. That deal is confidential and also has no claim form; see our report.

The Robert Brooks settlement pays only his estate. There is no website and no notice for anyone else. Any text, email or social-media post that offers you a share of the “$24 million Brooks settlement,” or asks for a fee or bank details to claim it, has nothing to do with the case. A genuine TransUnion notice names Brooks v. Trans Union, LLC and points to BrooksBankruptcyClassAction.com. Type that address yourself instead of clicking a link. No legitimate class settlement charges a fee to file a claim.