Over 3,000 civil lawsuits have been filed since the Adult Survivors Act opened a one-year window for survivors of sexual abuse to file lawsuits in New York state that would have previously fallen outside the statute of limitations. Nine of the suits named Syracuse University as a defendant, according to the state’s database for lawsuits.
The ASA, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in May 2022, allowed survivors to file lawsuits for a year starting on Nov. 24, 2022. Across the state, survivors filed a total of 110 separate lawsuits that named universities as defendants, including SU, Cornell University, Columbia University and several others.
Beth Fegan, a class action attorney for the FeganScott law firm, said laws like the ASA that have been passed across the country in recent years have made it far easier for survivors to come forward.
“It’s finally allowing the law to catch up to trauma,” Fegan said. “The law now recognizes that trauma has prevented the survivors from coming forward and provides the appropriate look-back window to allow them to do so.”
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