Hundreds of CVA lawsuits against NYS could be dismissed, advocates say
The New York State Senate Chamber is seen during a legislative session in 2024. Credit: AP / Hans Pennink
An estimated 400-500 lawsuits, including many on Long Island, filed against New York State under the landmark Child Victims Act could be dismissed after the Assembly adjourned this week without approving legislation that would no longer require victims to remember the exact date and time of their abuse, advocates said.
In March, the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, dismissed a lawsuit filed by Chi Bartram Wright, a New York City man who alleged in court papers that he was sexually abused as a child by multiple men between 1986 and 1990 at a state-run theater complex in Albany.
The Court of Appeals argued Wright provided only vague generalities about his alleged abusers, locations and time frames and that his claims were "too spare" to effectively impose liability on the state.
The Court of Claims, which hears lawsuits against the state, requires a level of specificity about the alleged abuse which Wright failed to meet, the high court said.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Hundreds of Child Victims Act lawsuits against the state could be dismissed after the Assembly failed to approve a bill that would no longer require survivors to recall the date and time of their abuse, advocates say.
- In March, the Court of Appeals dismissed a suit by a New York City man who alleged he was sexually abused as a child by multiple men sometime between 1986 and 1990 at a state-run theater complex in Albany.
- The Court of Claims, which hears lawsuits against the state, requires victims to recall the location, dates and other specificities of their abuse. CVA cases against other entities are not held to the same standard.
Child Victims Act cases brought against all other entities, including the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, local school districts and other government municipalities do not require the same standard.
"How does it make any sense to have one standard of claims for people who were sexually abused by the State of New York and a completely different one for every other entity," said David Catalfamo, executive director of the Coalition for Justice and Compassionate Compensation, which advocates for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. "It makes zero sense. It's not fair."
Earlier this month, the Democrat-controlled State Senate voted 57-5 to make a technical change to state law that would no longer require victims who bring cases against the state in the Court of Claims to recall specific information about their abuse.
But the Assembly, also controlled by Democrats, adjourned for the session on Wednesday without considering a vote on a matching bill, sponsored by Assemb. Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan).
Rosenthal and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's office each did not respond to requests for comment.
Gary Greenberg, who helped spearhead passage of the Child Victims Act — which permitted victims of childhood sex abuse to file lawsuits, regardless of when the abuse was alleged to have occurred — said abuse survivors will rarely recall exact details of their trauma.
"I fought for a lot of victims over my lifetime," said Greenberg, himself a survivor of childhood sexual assault. "And, I don't know one victim that could give an exact time and an exact date about when they were abused."
Catalfamo estimates that up to 500 lawsuits filed against the state under the Child Victims Act — and hundreds more under the Adult Survivors Act, a similar bill for victims of sexual assault that occurred when they were over the age of 18 — could be dismissed if the "loophole" is not closed.
Wright alleged in his 2021 lawsuit that his abuse occurred when he was between ages 12 and 15 at the performing arts center at the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
But Court of Appeals Judge Caitlin Halligan wrote that Wright's "claim lacks critical information about the abusers. It alleges that the perpetrators included teachers, coaches, counselors, and perhaps other employees of the state, but it does not explain whether those employees were Wright’s teachers, coaches, and counselors, or why, as a child, he was in their company multiple times between 1986 and 1990."
The ruling, Catalfamo said, opened the door for State Attorney General Letitia James' office to seek the "mass dismissal" of Child Victims Act and Adult Survivors Act cases involving state-run facilities, such as prisons, group homes and schools.
James' office did not respond to requests for comment.
Catalfamo and Greenberg Thursday also criticized Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Department of Financial Services for failing to pressure or penalize insurance companies for delaying efforts to pay out claims in a host of Child Victims Act cases.
Hochul spokesman Gordon Tepper said "it's ludicrous for this organization to weaponize the pain of survivors in a cynical attempt to pull this administration into a contractual dispute between two private entities."
Newsday's Yancey Roy contributed to this story.
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