Lawyers sparred before New York's top court Wednesday over how specific a man alleging sexual abuse decades ago needs to be in his lawsuit against the state in a case that's being watched by advocates concerned about the legal standards for survivors to recall traumatic events.
Attorney General Letitia James' office is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit by a man who says he was repeatedly sexually assaulted around a state-run theater in Albany from 1986 to 1990, starting when he was 12. The suit was filed under a 2019 state law that allows people to sue over sexual abuse they suffered long ago as children.
A state attorney told the Court of Appeals the lawsuit doesn’t adequately specify the nature of the claimed abuse and that its time frame for when the alleged abuse happened is too broad, falling short of standards for suing the state.
The case deals only with requirements for suing New York, not private institutions.
“It doesn’t necessarily need to be a specific date, but it should be a very narrow range," said Jeffrey Lang of the attorney general's office. “I would say weeks, and here we just have nothing.”
Narrower time frames are needed so the state can investigate claims and assess its liability, Lang said.
James' appeal has worried some supporters of the Child Victims Act, the state law that temporarily lifted barriers to filing civil suits over child sexual abuse beyond typical time limits. They say child abuse victims cannot be expected to consistently recall details of trauma that occurred long ago.
The man's lawyer echoed that argument Wednesday.
“At the time this claim was filed almost four years ago, this was the extent of the information that he knew because of the psychological trauma,” said attorney Seth Dymond.
The man sued the state in 2021, saying he was repeatedly raped, molested and fondled by multiple men, including state employees, around The Egg, a performing arts theater at the state Capitol complex. The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.
The lawsuit originally was dismissed by a judge for the Court of Claims who cited the lack of specific dates. A mid-level appeals court reversed that decision in November 2023. The appeals judges found that the since the alleged events occurred several decades ago when the claimant was a child, the multi-year timeframe was specific enough.
The case is among roughly 300 filed against the state during a two-year window under the Child Victims Act. The lion’s share of more than 10,800 lawsuits filed before the window closed in 2021 named private institutions such as churches, hospitals and schools.
The arguments over the man's suit have highlighted tensions between James’ public image as a champion for victims and her legal duty to defend the state against lawsuits.
A spokesperson for the Democratic attorney general said in a prepared statement that survivors of child sexual abuse “deserve the opportunity to pursue justice through the process outlined in the Child Victims Act. As New York’s lawyer, we have a responsibility to defend the state, which we are balancing with our strong desire to support survivors and their ability to heal.”
James argues the Legislature could have adopted different legal requirements for suing the state when it crafted the law.
Advocates and attorneys for survivors have expressed concern that a win for the state could affect some pending cases filed under the Child Victims Act, as well as cases bought more recently under a companion law that opened a litigation window for people claiming they were abused as adults. The Adult Survivors Act resulted in more than 1,400 lawsuits against the state, most alleging abuse in state prisons.
“The state basically is saying, ‘We don’t believe victims. We’re not going to allow these victims have their day in court,’” said Gary Greenberg, an advocate who fought for the Child Victims Act.
Albany Law School professor Dale Margolin Cecka noted that James' primary duty is to defend the state. By appealing to the top court, James is seeking resolution on the standards for suing under the Child Victims Act that are unclear, said Cecka, who represents victims of domestic violence.
“She can’t go, ‘Well, this seems so bad to me that we’re just not going to personally advocate for our client,’ which is the state of New York,” Cecka said.
