Rep. Mike Lawler accuses Hochul of failing ‘to enforce’ insurance companies to pay sex abuse victims

New York Rep. Michael Lawler is accusing Gov. Kathy Hochul of dragging her feet by failing to force insurance companies to pay claims to thousands of alleged sexual assault victims who’ve filed lawsuits under the Child Victims Act.

“The Child Victims Act (CVA), passed almost seven years ago was supposed to open the doors of justice to those silenced for decades. Instead, in New York, survivors now face two equally devastating failures: insurance companies refusing to pay what they owe and the State of New York refusing to act,” Rep. Michael Lawler (R-Hudson Valley) said in a scorching September 26 letter to Hochul.

“These injustices reflect the abject failure of your administration and demand immediate intervention,” said Lawler.

The law made it easier for New Yorkers who were victims of sex abuse as kids to sue for damages as adults. Sex abuse victims are able to file criminal charges until they reach age 28 and civil cases until age 55.

Victims had a one-year window to sue regardless of how far back an offense occurred.

Insurers whose clients include the Catholic Church, hospitals, schools, Boy Scouts troops and other employers have aggressively denied coverage to abuse survivors, relying on narrow legal arguments that claim decades of institutional child sexual abuse by pedophiles were “expected or intended,” the congressman said.

Many cases are tied up in court, with insurers of the defendants refusing to make payments on behalf of their clients, according to the Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation.

Instead of confronting this behavior, Lawler said, Hochul’s administration has “refused to enforce” the Child Victims Act and Department of Financial Services Circular Letter No. 11, which requires insurers to “cooperate fully” and “to act promptly” instead of stalling and delaying in resolving victims’ claims.

“This failure has allowed insurers to walk away from their responsibilities,” the congressman said.

In addition, Lawler claimed the state has failed to fix the “two-tiered” system involving sex abuse cases in private facilities compared to public or government-run institutions.

“While survivors abused in private institutions can at least bring claims, those abused in state-run facilities remain blocked at the courthouse door — their cases dismissed before they can even be heard,” Lawler said, calling the.double standard “indefensible.”

“Your failure is systemic and is compounding by the day.”

He urged Hochul to enforce the CVA and DFS Circular 11 and finally compel insurers to negotiate in good faith and immediately and retroactively fix the pleading standard in the CVA for claims against the State of New York.

The governor should commit to equal justice for all survivors — regardless of whether the abuse occurred in a public or private institution, added Lawler.

“Justice cannot be selective. The promises made to survivors cannot be conditional. And the financial obligations of insurers cannot be optional,” he said.

An ad campaign in June also pressured Hochul to force insurance companies to pay claims to alleged sexual assault victims. The campaign was bankrolled by the Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation, which includes the Catholic Church.

The child abuse sex scandal has been costly, particularly to the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan said last year some layoffs at the Archdiocese of New York were necessitated to help pay for the sex abuse scandal involving clergy from decades ago.

Hochul’s office defended her administration’s oversight of child sex abuse cases.

“Mike Lawler is once again trying to distract from his own deplorable record. Governor Hochul has been a champion for these victims and even worked to further empower survivors across New York when she signed the Adult Survivors Act into law in 2022,” a Hochul spokesperson said.

“The Courts are working through these challenging cases and New York State will hold all parties accountable to those decisions.”

The state Department of Financial Service is monitoring ongoing litigation as the courts seek to answer important legal questions about insurers’ contractual liabilities involving sex abuse cases, the governor’s office said.