Thomas Valva case: Judge orders victim's mother to participate in mediation in connection with  lawsuit against Suffolk, court filings show

A federal judge ordered the mother of Thomas Valva to participate in mediation of her lawsuit against Suffolk County or risk monetary sanctions and the dismissal of her claim alleging officials ignored years of warnings of abuse before the 8-year-old boy died of hypothermia after sleeping in his father and stepmother’s Center Moriches garage in January 2020, court records show.

Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay’s order comes as attorneys in the civil action filed by Justyna Zubko-Valva informed her mediation "may be productive" as they seek to resolve the case through settlement.

An attorney for Zubko-Valva recently told the judge the mother would be willing to settle for $10 million, but Lindsay noted in the order Zubko-Valva did not participate in mediation and has refused to make herself or her surviving children available for depositions.

"As a result, progress in this action has stalled," Lindsay wrote in her April 24 order. The judge had noted the critical role depositions play in establishing fair settlement figures during a January conference.

The judge set a deadline of June 24 to complete mediation and said that while other parties in the case may have a representative present for the sessions, Zubko-Valva must personally attend.

"In the event [Zubko-Valva] fails to appear she will be required to pay for the attorneys’ fees of each defendant who appears for the mediation and the action will be stayed until such payment is made," Lindsay wrote. "In addition, her failure to appear for the mediation, may result in a recommendation to the District Judge that the action be dismissed."

Such a sanction could force Zubko-Valva to pay attorneys' fees on behalf of Thomas' father, Michael Valva, and his fiancee, Angela Pollina, who are each serving 25 years to life in prison sentences for the boy’s murder and are named as defendants in the case along with Suffolk County, several of its Child Protective Services employees, East Moriches school officials, and several attorneys tasked with protecting Thomas and his two brothers.

Michael Martino, Suffolk’s director of communications, declined to comment, citing county policy to not speak on active litigation.

Before Lindsay’s order, Thomas Bosworth, of Philadelphia, an attorney representing Zubko-Valva, informed the judge of an "irreparable breakdown" in the relationship with his client. He wrote in an April 14 letter that steps would be taken to withdraw as attorneys in the case, an action already undertaken by the previous firm representing Zubko-Valva.

Lindsay’s order did not address Bosworth’s expressed desire to step down from the case. The attorney did not respond to a request for comment this week.

Zubko-Valva had previously rejected a $3 million settlement offer from Suffolk County after she learned it would cover all defendants in the case, according to a letter she filed with the court on her own behalf in November 2023. At that time, she said she would be willing to settle the case for $30 million after initially seeking $200 million.

Zubko-Valva was going through a bitter divorce proceeding and custody battle with former NYPD officer Michael Valva at the time of their son’s death. Two Suffolk juries found Thomas died when Valva and Pollina forced him and his brother Anthony, both of whom were diagnosed on the autism spectrum, to sleep in the unheated garage as temperatures outside fell to 19 degrees.

Prosecutors described the Valva and Pollina home on Bittersweet Lane as a "house of horrors." There were no mattresses, no beds, no pillows or blankets in the garage where Thomas slept for the last time, according to the evidence presented in the 2022 and 2023 trials. That evidence, including text messages between the pair, depicted Pollina as the driving force behind the punishment, but jurors found Pollina and Valva "acted in concert" to cause Thomas' death.

In video from a home surveillance system Pollina controlled that was displayed during the trials, the boys shivered in freezing temperatures. Pollina often sent video clips of the boys in the garage to Valva via text message while he worked overnight shifts, complaining of the boys’ behavior and urging Valva to take action, trial evidence showed.

At times, Valva told Pollina he wanted his sons back in the house, but Pollina refused, telling Valva to move out if he disapproved of the arrangement. Valva felt he couldn't leave, his attorneys have said, because he was facing financial issues due to the pending divorce and custody fight.

Thomas and Anthony appeared to be starving during most of their time at East Moriches Elementary School, their schoolteachers testified, adding they also came to school with bruises, cuts and other injuries. The teachers and school officials called Child Protective Services many times, including a group effort to "flood" a CPS reporting line, but the boys remained living with Valva and Pollina, testimony at the trial showed.

A special grand jury impaneled by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney released a report outlining changes to the CPS system last year. County officials have said some of those reforms have been achieved.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.