(Reuters)- Hundreds of protesters arrested during a 2012 Occupy movement demonstration in Oakland, California, have won a nearly $1.4 million settlement of a lawsuit that accused authorities of violating their civil rights, an attorney said on Thursday.

The federal lawsuit against Oakland and the county of Alameda said the mass arrests on Jan. 28, 2012, violated the protesters' constitutional rights to free speech, due process, and protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Attorneys for the protesters contended they were taking part in an Occupy Oakland protest against economic inequality and had gathered peacefully outside a Young Men's Christian Association center in Oakland when, without cause, police took more than 350 people into custody.

Demonstrators, who according to court documents were held in jail for between 12 and 80 hours, also said they endured unsanitary and overcrowded cells and were denied their rights to contact family members.

Lawyers representing eight plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit are contacting the hundreds of protesters arrested that day who will also get a share of the nearly $1.4 million settlement agreement, said Dan Siegel, attorney for the plaintiffs in the class action