New York Adult Survivors Act: Lookback Window, Damages, and Options

The New York Adult Survivors Act opened a one-year civil lawsuit window for adults who were sexually assaulted, letting them sue no matter how long ago the abuse happened. That window ran from November 24, 2022, through November 24, 2023, and more than 3,000 lawsuits were filed in it. The window is now closed, but survivors who missed it may still have options under New York’s regular sexual offense statute of limitations or, in New York City, under a separate local law.

What the Act Covered

The ASA revived civil claims based on conduct that would qualify as a sexual offense under New York Penal Law Article 130. Article 130 spans a wide range of offenses, from sexual misconduct and forcible touching through the various degrees of rape, sexual abuse, and aggravated sexual abuse.¹ The Act also revived claims based on incest in the first and second degrees under Penal Law sections 255.26 and 255.27.²

The law applied only to survivors who were eighteen or older when the abuse happened. Claims involving minors fall under the separate Child Victims Act.³

Survivors could sue the individual who committed the abuse and any organization whose intentional or negligent acts contributed to it. Employers, hospitals, correctional facilities, and other institutions that failed to prevent abuse could face civil liability alongside the direct perpetrator. No criminal charge or conviction was required to bring a civil claim.

How the Lookback Window Worked

CPLR 214-j, the statute that created the revival mechanism, allowed claims to be filed starting six months after the law took effect and continuing for one year after that. Governor Hochul signed the law on May 24, 2022, so the window ran from November 24, 2022, through November 24, 2023.²³

During that year, survivors could file no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. Even claims that had already been dismissed as time-barred could be refiled; the statute expressly says a prior dismissal based on an expired limitations period cannot be used to block a revival action.⁴

The most prominent case filed under the Act was E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuit against Donald Trump, filed minutes after the window opened. A jury unanimously found that Trump had sexually abused Carroll and awarded her $5 million in total damages, covering both the underlying abuse and subsequent defamation.⁵ The verdict showed that a survivor could prevail decades after the abuse, without physical evidence or a prior criminal prosecution.

Lawsuits filed after November 24, 2023, no longer have the benefit of the revival statute. They must satisfy the standard statute of limitations unless another exception applies. Cases filed before the deadline continue to move through the courts, many still in discovery or settlement negotiations.

Options Still Available if You Missed the Window

Survivors of more recent assaults may still have time under New York’s permanent statute of limitations for sexual offense claims. CPLR 213-c gives survivors twenty years from the date of the offense to bring a civil action for injuries caused by rape, aggravated sexual abuse, course of sexual conduct against a child, and certain incest offenses.⁶ The twenty-year clock applies to offenses occurring on or after the statute’s effective date, and no special lookback window is needed.

Survivors in New York City have an additional option. The city’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act was amended in early 2026 to create a new lookback window for claims of gender-motivated violence that would otherwise be time-barred. That window is expected to remain open through mid-2027. Unlike the ASA, the GMVA covers gender-motivated violence broadly, not just offenses defined under Penal Law Article 130. Whether a specific claim qualifies under either pathway depends on the facts, and an attorney’s review is the practical way to sort it out.

Filing Without Making Your Name Public

Filing a lawsuit does not necessarily mean a survivor’s name becomes public. New York courts allow plaintiffs to proceed under a pseudonym like “Jane Doe” when the circumstances warrant it, balancing the plaintiff’s privacy interest against the general presumption that court proceedings are open.⁷

Courts weigh several factors:

The nature of the allegations, since deeply personal and stigmatizing details favor anonymity.
The risk of retaliation, harassment, or serious psychological harm if the plaintiff is named.
Prejudice to the defendant, which is limited when defense counsel already knows the plaintiff’s identity and the pseudonym only shields the plaintiff from the public.
Public interest, especially when a case involves a public figure or government conduct where transparency serves an important function.

Embarrassment alone is not enough. The plaintiff has to show harm from disclosure that goes beyond ordinary discomfort. In sexual assault cases, courts routinely recognize that the intimate nature of the allegations tips the balance toward allowing anonymity.

What Survivors Can Recover

Survivors who prevail can recover two main categories of damages. Compensatory damages cover both financial losses (therapy costs, medical expenses, lost income) and non-economic harm (emotional distress, pain and suffering, long-term psychological impact). Awards vary widely depending on the severity and duration of the misconduct and the strength of the evidence.

Punitive damages are also available, though harder to win. A court awards them to punish conduct that goes beyond ordinary negligence, and the plaintiff must prove the defendant acted with conscious disregard for her rights. In the Carroll case, the jury awarded punitive damages against Trump for both the sexual abuse and the defamation, though the punitive award was a fraction of the compensatory damages.⁵ Most cases settle before trial, and settlement amounts are usually confidential.

How a Settlement or Award Is Taxed

Tax treatment depends entirely on how the money is categorized. Under federal tax law, damages received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness are excluded from gross income.⁸ Sexual assault that involves physical contact generally qualifies as a physical injury for this purpose.

Other categories are treated less favorably:

Emotional distress with no underlying physical injury is taxable as ordinary income, though the portion used to pay for medical care related to that emotional distress can be excluded.
Amounts allocated to back pay or lost wages are taxable and subject to employment taxes.
Punitive damages are always taxable, regardless of the underlying claim.

The language in the settlement agreement matters. The IRS looks at how the parties allocate proceeds across categories, and a poorly drafted agreement that lumps everything together without specifying what covers physical injuries versus emotional distress can leave the entire amount treated as taxable. That is one of the strongest reasons to have an attorney involved in settlement negotiations, not just litigation.

What Happens if the Defendant Files for Bankruptcy

A concern in many sexual assault cases is whether the defendant can erase a judgment by filing for bankruptcy. Federal bankruptcy law provides some protection. Under 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(6), a debt for “willful and malicious injury” to another person cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.⁹

The catch is that the survivor must prove the defendant intended the injury itself, not just that the defendant committed an intentional act that happened to cause harm. The Supreme Court drew that distinction in Kawaauhau v. Geiger, and bankruptcy courts apply it strictly. Even a punitive damages award does not automatically make the underlying debt nondischargeable. The survivor may need to litigate the nondischargeability question separately in bankruptcy court. That extra step affects the real-world value of any judgment, especially against individual defendants with limited assets.

How Attorneys Get Paid

Most attorneys handling these cases work on a contingency fee basis: the survivor pays nothing upfront, and the attorney takes a percentage of any recovery. New York court rules cap attorney fees in personal injury and wrongful death cases. Under the standard schedule, attorneys can charge up to one-third of the total recovery as a flat percentage, or use a sliding scale that starts higher on the first dollars recovered and decreases as the total grows.¹⁰

The retainer agreement should specify whether the percentage applies to the gross recovery or the net amount after litigation expenses are deducted. That distinction can be worth thousands of dollars. Read the retainer carefully and ask whether costs like expert witnesses, private investigators, and filing fees come out of the attorney’s share or the client’s share. Either way, the contingency structure removes the financial barrier that would otherwise keep most survivors out of court.

1
New York State Senate. New York Penal Code 130 – Sex Offenses
2
New York State Senate. New York Code 214-J – Certain Sexual Offense Actions
3
Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor Hochul Signs Adult Survivors Act
4
New York State Senate. New York Laws CVP 214-J
5
Justia. Carroll v. Trump, No. 23-793 (2d Cir. 2024)
6
New York State Senate. New York Code 213-C – Action by a Victim of a Sex Offense
7
New York Courts. Doe v. Zara USA, Inc.
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 104 – Compensation for Injuries or Sickness
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
10
New York State Unified Court System. Contingent Fees in Claims and Actions for Personal Injury and Wrongful Death