Claims under NY's Child Victims Act won't have same window in federal court

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that victims of sexual abuse cannot pursue their lapsed claims in federal court, despite a move to revive older claims of child sexual abuse under New York's Child Victims Act.

When New York lawmakers passed the Child Victims Act in 2019, they provided a one-time, look-back window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to pursue civil suits against their alleged abusers, even if the statute of limitations had already run out.

But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote that the look-back window would not apply to similar claims under federal law, such as Title IX, which are commonly used to pursue cases against alleged abusers at educational institutions.

However, survivors will still be able to pursue portions of their cases in New York state courts.

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"I’m disappointed that every single federal court that has decided this issue has gotten it wrong," said Kevin Mulhearn, an attorney for one of the plaintiffs in the case, who was attempting to sue the Mount Pleasant Central School District in federal court for sexual abuse the individual says he suffered as a high school freshman.

In his lawsuit, the former Mount Pleasant student said he was sexually abused by older football teammates in the locker room at Westlake High School, and that coaching staff knew about this but did not meaningfully intervene. Later on, he says school administrators conducted a sham investigation into his claims of abuse and ended up suspending him.

"For some reason, the federal courts in New York don't want to revive cases using federal statutes that involve sexual abuse," Mulhearn continued. "But the extent to which the court is bending the law in my mind is ridiculous."

Mulhearn's client is still maintaining a case against the Mount Pleasant Central School District in state court, but without the benefit of the additional federal claims.

According to Alexander Reinert, director of the Center for Rights and Justice at the Cardozo School of Law, one of the major benefits of federal lawsuits, which can be expensive, is that they allow for a survivor who wins their case to charge the defendant for their attorney's fees.

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Reinert nevertheless explained that the Second Circuit's decision Thursday "is consistent with Supreme Court case law."

"It's obviously disappointing for the plaintiffs and will make it harder to bring these cases under federal law," he said. "But I think it’s consistent with the governing precedent."

Though the court based its reasoning on how New York lawmakers organized state law dealing with statutes of limitations, Reinert said it would be "pretty tricky" for the legislature to appease the court by figuring out a clever way to overcome its decision.

Mulhearn said he and his client are "weighing our options" on whether to try to bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Asher Stockler is a reporter for The Journal News and the USA Today Network New York. You can find him on Twitter at @quasiasher or send him an email at astockler@lohud.com. Reach him securely: asher.stockler@protonmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Child Victims Act: NY abuse cases won't get same window in federal court