New York’s Adult Survivors Act Reaches Far and Wide with 1-Year Lookback Window

The last day to file time-barred sexual abuse claims under the Adult Survivors Act saw an uptick in high-profile filings on Thursday. The late surge resulted in lawsuits against rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, Robert Hadden, and Mayor Adams himself. Adams was sued in an accusation that he sexually assaulted a former colleague in 1993. The allegations against Adams were added to the Manhattan Supreme Court docket after lawsuits were filed against actor Jamie Foxx for an alleged 2015 sexual assault and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose for allegedly raping a woman in 1989. Cases against Combs were also filed for allegedly sexually assaulting and drugging a student in 1991. The Adult Survivors Act, signed into law in May 2022, gives sexual abuse victims the ability to sue individuals and institutions for harm they suffered, no matter how long ago, for one year starting on Thanksgiving. This has resulted in hundreds of cases being filed against Columbia University’s board of trustees by Hadden’s former patients and additions to dozens of headline-grabbing cases. The Adult Survivors Act resulted from years of lobbying efforts by advocates who sought to recognize the trauma faced by sex abuse victims. New York lawmakers extended the statute of limitations to file claims for rape and severe sexual violence to 20 years in 2019 but it cannot be applied retroactively. City residents who wish to pursue claims for gender-motivated violence will be able to lean on the City Council’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law until March 2025.