The New York Adult Survivors Act

Signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in May 2022, The Adult Survivors Act (the “ASA”) is a landmark new law that re-opens the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims in New York, even if the victim was an adult at the time of the abuse.

From November 24, 2022 – November 23, 2023, adult survivors of sexual abuse in New York can bring civil claims regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. 

Today, we take an important step in empowering survivors across New York to use their voices and hold their abusers accountable.

Governor Kathy Hochul

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The ASA is modeled on the Child Victims Act (the “CVA”), which created a look-back window for survivors of sexual assault who were under the age of 18 at the time of the assault. The CVA which came into effect in 2019 resulted in over 8,000 lawsuits and has been incredibly effective at holding institutions accountable for long-ago abuse of children.  The CVA only applied to cases of abuse where the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the abuse. 

As per another report: Around 11,000 lawsuits were filed in New York against churches, hospitals, schools, camps and other institutions under that law. 

The newly-enacted ASA creates a similar one-year look-back window for survivors of sexual abuse who are over eighteen years old and whose claims are presently time barred.  (Source)

The New York ASA recognizes that victims of sexual assault can't always pursue a case immediately. 

Lawsuits filed under revival windows are often brought not only against the alleged abuser, but also against employers, educational institutions, summer camps, social service agencies, and other entities under a vicarious liability theory. Such lawsuits typically bring claims for aiding and abetting the abuse, transporter liability, benefitting from sex trafficking under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), civil RICO violations, negligent hiring, negligent security, premises liability, and common law negligence. These claims can date back decades, implicating extremely complex insurance and liability issues. (Source)

A billionaire investor with ties to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been accused of raping a young mother at Epstein’s Upper East Side mansion under New York’s new Adult Survivor’s Act. (news)

Woman Files Lawsuit Accusing Ex-Hedge Fund Exec Leon Black of Raping Her Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Townhouse a new lawsuit under New York’s Adult Survivors Act. The 30-page complaint lays out a detailed and graphic portrait of events said to have taken place roughly two decades ago. (news)

E. Jean Carroll, who accused Donald Trump of raping her in mid-1990s, plans to file new lawsuit against former U.S. president to bring claims of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress under New York's Adult Survivors Act. (news)

Trump Sued for Battery by E. Jean Carroll Under NY’s new law. Carroll already has a defamation suit pending against Trump. (news)

Under the ASA, survivors of sexual offenses can bring claims against individual offenders in addition to bringing related claims against public and private institutions, companies and other organizations that may have employed the alleged offenders or otherwise been connected to such offenders. 

Plaintiffs will no doubt bring claims based on intentional and negligent acts and omissions, alleging, for example, that entities: failed to protect plaintiffs from sexual offenders; were negligent in implementing proper safety protocols; were negligent in hiring, retaining, supervising and directing offenders; were negligent in implementing proper safety and reporting protocols; and were liable for infliction of emotional distress.

Key issues in these litigations may involve the duty, if any, that entities owed to plaintiffs, the extent of entities’ control of alleged offenders, whether alleged offenders acted as agents of entities affiliated with them and whether these entities had actual or constructive knowledge of an alleged offender’s sexual offenses committed against a plaintiff or a propensity to commit sexual offenses based on past conduct.

(Source)

Separate suits under the new ASA law are expected to be filed on behalf of more than 750 women who allege they were sexually assaulted in New York State prisons, attorney Adam Slater said.

“The detainee-guard relationship is one of the most extreme power imbalances that exists today,” Slater said. “Under New York State law, a person in correctional custody is legally incapable of consent. Officers and guards in these facilities have an unmatched arsenal of methods for exerting their will upon victims: physical confinement, force, withholding of privileges and total control over their environments.” (source)

More lawsuits are expected on behalf of about 40 more women with new claims against a Columbia University gynecologist Dr. Robert Hadden, said attorney Anthony DiPietro, who represented 230 women allegedly sexually abused by Hadden. Nearly 150 of those cases were settled before the Adult Survivors Act went into effect.

Hadden is due to go on trial next year on six counts of enticing and inducing victims to his medical offices in New York and subjecting them to unlawful sexual abuse from about 1993 to 2012, prosecutors have said; Hadden has pleaded not guilty. (source)

The Adult Survivors Act builds on Governor Hochul's steadfast and ongoing commitment to protecting and supporting survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Earlier this year, the Governor announced nearly $24 million for domestic violence and sexual assault programs, including $16 million for 83 domestic violence programs and shelters and $7.6 million for 50 rape crisis centers and sexual assault programs. (Source)