Anna Kull, a Partner at the NY-based law firm Levy Konigsberg, was interviewed by Gothamist about her plans to file hundreds of civil lawsuits for women who were sexually abused in New York jails and prisons before a critical claim deadline expires on November 24.
NEW YORK, Oct. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Levy Konigsberg Partner Anna Kull was recently quoted by Gothamist in an article discussing an upcoming flood of civil lawsuits brought by women who were sexually abused in New York jails and prisons over the past several decades.
Kull, who helms Levy Konigsberg’s renowned sexual abuse litigation team, has been working with a growing number of women who were sexually abused by staff while incarcerated at correctional facilities across the country. In New York alone, where a groundbreaking law created new opportunities for survivors to pursue legal action, Kull has spoken with hundreds of former female inmates and plans to have over 500 individual civil lawsuits filed by next month.
As reported by Gothamist, Kull says these cases involve nearly every jail and prison in New York that housed female inmates and that a staggering number of them involve claims against the same abusive guards, several of whom have been charged and/or convicted for their crimes.
She also noted that, thanks to a retroactive component of the state’s historic Adult Survivors Act, she’s filing claims not only for survivors who were recently abused, but also for those whose abuse occurred years or decades ago.
At the core of these cases, Kull mentions in her interview, are claims that the city and state agencies which operated these facilities failed to gain a hold of their systemic staff-on-inmate sexual abuse problem. Over decades, the suits allege, facilities operators continually turned a blind eye to abuse, created a culture of concealment and cover-ups, and allowed guards and staff to abuse women with impunity.
The time, she says, has come for these facilities to be held accountable:
“They employed the individual who committed the assault. They’re the ones who implemented or failed to implement certain policies and procedures to prevent the assault. And, many times, they may have been complicit in covering it up.”
Read the full Gothamist article here.
Firm Reminds Survivors of Looming November 24 Claim Deadline
Claims being filed by Kull and her firm have been made possible by NY Adult Survivors Act, a groundbreaking law that created a temporary one-year window during which survivors of sexual abuse can file civil lawsuits against entities and institutions that failed to protect them.
Notably, this filing window is retroactive, which means that survivors can file civil lawsuits regardless of how long ago their abuse occurred and even if their claims were barred by the statute of limitations.
But as unprecedented as this opportunity may be, the temporary filing window will come to an end.
As Kull and her firm want to remind survivors, the NY Adult Survivors Act window has a November 24, 2023 deadline, and any survivor with a potential case should take steps to immediately contact an attorney to discuss their rights and whether they have grounds to file before the window closes.
You can learn more about NY women’s prison sexual abuse lawsuits or discuss a potential case by contacting Levy Konigsberg. Visit: www.LevyLaw.com for more information.
Media Contact: Anna Kull, [email protected]
SOURCE Levy Konigsberg
