New law clarifies Adult Survivors Act

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)-- Roughly 3,000 cases were brought forward because of New York Adult Survivors Act. Now, there is new legislation that clarifies the law.

The Adult Survivors Act went into effect back in 2022. It gave sexual assault survivors one year to sue their abusers in a civil case if the statute of limitations expired. The lookback window closed in 2023.

https://www.news10.com/news/adult-survivors-act-lookback-window-set-to-expire-soon/

In one of these cases, a judge’s interpretation of law wasn’t what lawmakers had intended.

"When a plaintiff against a prison system brought a case in Wayne County, the judge misinterpreted the law and threw the case out saying oh no, you have to file a notice of claim," said Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, sponsor of the Adult Survivors Act.

Michael Polenberg, Vice President of Government Affairs at Safe Horizon explained what that means.

"What is a notice of claim? It’s what you do when you file civil litigation against a public entity— whether it’s a school, whether it’s a government, whether it’s prison. It gives the public entity knowledge that you plan to file a civil lawsuit."

A new law signed by Governor Hochul on Friday now provides more clarity to the Adult Survivors Act.

"We are happy the governor has signed this legislation to make it very clear that someone wouldn’t have had to file a notice of claim before suing under the Adult Survivors Act," said Polenberg.

Rosenthal shared a message for other plaintiffs whose case may have been similarly impacted.

"The window has closed, but if someone has found that their case was thrown out of court based on the non-filing of a notice of claim which wasn’t necessary, they should look to revive their case," said Rosenthal.