Rockville Centre Diocese Trying To Overturn Abuse Lawsuits

Facing an ever-growing number of lawsuits from people who claim they were abused by church clergy and staff, the Diocese of Rockville Centre is appealing parts of the New York Child Victims Act, claiming it violates the state constitution and the diocese's rights.

The Child Victims Act (CVA) expands the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse to file claims against their abusers. Previously, victims had up to five years from when they turned 18 to file a claim. But it is often very difficult for sex abuse victims to come forward. The CVA extended the time frame, allowing victims to file suit until they are 55.

In addition, the law opened up a one-year window for abuse survivors to file suit against their abusers if they were barred from doing so previously by the statute of limitations. That one-year window opened in August, and it is that part of the law the diocese is trying to have overturned.

The Diocese of Rockville Centre is already facing at least 44 lawsuits from those who claim they were abused by priests and other employees of the diocese, and it is trying to have all 44 overturned.

The argument the diocese makes is that, by opening up that one-year window for lawsuits, the CVA is violating the diocese's constitutional right to due process.

In support of the claim, the diocese's lawyers site the 2014 case of workers who responded to the World Trade Center site to clean up after 9/11. A state law allowed them to sue for damages after the statue of limitations had passed, and the agency they sued tried to have the case dismissed for similar reasons as the diocese.

"There, too, the New York State legislature sought to revive the time-barred claims of this sympathetic class of individuals — a three-year limitations period and a shorter period imposed by a notice-of-claim requirement applied," the diocese's appeal reads. "But a federal court, applying the Court of Appeals’ binding due process precedent, ruled that the enactment 'does not fall within the narrow exception for revival statutes,' because the relief workers were not subjected to a ‘practical and total inability to commence [an] action’ in a timely manner."

However, that decision was rejected by an appeals court.

"This issue has been addressed by the US Supreme Court multiple times over the last 60 years. The US Supreme Court has constantly held that the retroactive application of statues of limitations do not impact any vested rights that are being denied substantively," said Irwin Zalkin, a lawyer representing some of the people suing the diocese. "They've accepted the retroactive application of these statues of limitations."

Zalkin has represented more than 400 survivors of child sexual abuse over his career. He has sued other dioceses before, and has seen similar cases made by them — many of which, he says, were rejected by courts.

"They have more concern about their wealth than they do the welfare of children and doing the right thing by victims," said Zalkin. "They speak a big game. They have a big PR campaign about how they care about victims and how they want to make sure the victims are treated fairly. But when it comes to the money, they only care about their wealth."

The diocese, though, said that is not the case.

"The diocese’s motion to dismiss should not be interpreted as an attempt to turn its back on victims, shield predators or reverse its position," said diocesan spokesman Sean P. Dolan. "Rather, it is an effort by the diocese to establish the grounds for continuing to offer just compensation, care and support to survivors of abuse in diocesan settings. The diocese is not challenging the CVA in its entirety. It has an issue with certain provisions dealing with previously time-barred claims."

Before the CVA was enacted, the diocese had a victim's compensation fund to pay the victims of abuse by clergy. Zalkin said, though, that the fund would pay "ten cents on the dollar" for what the claims were actually worth.