Warning: The following article covers sexual assault. Please read with caution.
You may have noted that there’s been a flurry of accusations of sexual assault and rape made against high-profile figures over recent days.
On Tuesday Bill Cosby was sued by a woman claiming he drugged and sexually assaulted her. On Wednesday Axl Rose, Cuba Gooding Jr and Jimmy Iovine were named in separate suits. Today Jamie Foxx has joined them and is facing a lawsuit alleging sexual assault at a New York rooftop bar in 2015.
These lawsuits arriving within days of one another aren’t a coincidence, so here’s what’s happening.
New York’s Survivors Act
On Nov. 24 2022 a New York law came into force known as New York’s Survivors Act. This allows for civil claims to be filed that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations — meaning that in normal circumstances the incidents would have taken place too long ago to be the subject of a court case.
The Survivors Act allows for a window of a single year to make those claims, known as a “lookback period.” That window closes at 00.00 ET on Nov. 24, 2023, so these claims had a hard deadline before they would automatically be thrown out by the court.
A law that allows a specific period of time in which to file cases isn’t too unusual. In 2019 California filed a similar bill aimed at allowing survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims, with The Hollywood Reporter quoting litigator Brian Ascher as saying that, just as now with with Survivors Act, cases arrive “a bunch right away and then a lot right at the end of the period.”
The outlet also reports that as per New York states’ court reports, 2,700 cases have been filed in this window: 1,200 in the State Supreme Court and 1,500 in the Court of Claims.
The future of these claims
Each allegation made is entirely separate and will be considered on its own merits. It’s likely that the majority of the claims made against wealthy individuals will face an application for dismissal, either for lack of evidence (notoriously difficult in a historical claim) or for some legal technicality. Some defendants will also settle out of court and inevitably break out the NDAs, meaning we may never discover what, if anything, has been conceded and how much has been paid out.
As of writing the window for making these claims remains open. Whether we’ll see any more high-profile lawsuits arrive over the course of today remains to be seen, but it’s possible some celebrities with skeletons in their closets may find their Thanksgiving turkey has suddenly gotten rather unappetizing.
If you know someone suffering from sexual violence, contact RAINN or the National Sexual Abuse Telephone Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.
