New York Faces Surge In High-Profile Sexual Abuse Lawsuits As Statute of Limitations Window Closes

In a rush to beat the deadline of a state law temporarily lifting the statute of limitations on civil abuse and harassment claims, a wave of high-profile sexual abuse lawsuits has been filed in New York this week.

Notably, the list of defendants includes former President Donald Trump, New York Mayor Eric Adams, music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, comedian and actor Russell Brand and rock legend Axl Rose. If the claims against them are not dismissed or settled, they could potentially face jury trials.

The legal action comes as a result of the Adult Survivors Act, enacted by New York lawmakers in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, which was in effect from November 24, 2022, and expired on Thursday. The Act aimed to provide survivors with a window to seek justice, regardless of the age of the alleged incidents.

Case filed against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 1993, according to a legal summons filed on Wednesday.

The three-page filing does not contain details of the alleged assault but names Adams, the transit bureau of the New York Police Department and the New York Police Department Guardians Association as defendants. 

"Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Defendant Eric Adams in New York, New York in 1993 while they both worked for the City of New York," the summons reportedly read. 

The filing seeks a trial and USD 5 million in relief. It was filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan. The woman's attorney did not immediately return an emailed request for comment on Thursday. 

According to AP report, Adams denied sexually assaulting anyone and said he did not remember meeting the woman.

The summons was filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a special New York law that created a year-long suspension of the usual time limit to sue over an alleged sexual assault. The suit against Adams was filed just before the window to bring cases under the law was scheduled to close after Thanksgiving.

Woman files lawsuit against Jamie Foxx

A woman has alleged in a lawsuit that actor, singer and comedian Jamie Foxx sexually assaulted her at a rooftop bar in New York in 2015, an incident the actor says "never happened".

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan by a woman known in the documents only as Jane Doe alleges that Foxx rubbed her breasts and groped her under her pants against her will. 

The suit says she and a friend were seated at a table next to Foxx's at Catch NYC in 2015. The woman's asked Foxx for a photo, and the two women took several pictures with him, the suit says. It says that afterward, he began complimenting her “super model body” and told her she looked like the actor Gabrielle Union. 

A statement in response released Thursday from a representative for the 55-year-old Foxx said the alleged incident never happened.

The woman is seeking damages to be determined at trial, the suit says. 

The lawsuit was one of many filed this week under a temporary New York law, the Adult Survivors Act.

Andrew Cuomo accused of sexual harassment

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo is being sued by a former aide who says Cuomo sexually harassed her while he was still in office.

According to an AP report, Cuomo's former executive assistant Brittany Commisso filed the case against the ex-governor in the state Supreme Court in Albany on Wednesday. The filing, a three-page summons, came just before the expiration for lawsuits under the Adult Survivors Act, a special law which gave victims of sexual abuse a one-year window for claims that would otherwise be barred by time limits.

Commisso was one of at least 11 women who accused Cuomo of sexual misconduct, leading to his abrupt 2021 resignation in a #MeToo-era scandal that marked a severe fall from grace for the Democrat. He has denied the allegations.

Commisso's lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and unwanted touching from Cuomo and said she was punished for reporting the incidents. The case seeks monetary damages. Her allegations led to a criminal charge against Cuomo that was eventually dismissed last year at the request of a county prosecutor who described her as credible but said he couldn't prove the case. 

The law has cleared the way for a wave of lawsuits against famous men accused of sexual misconduct, with a slew of cases coming in the final weeks before it was set to expire. Over the past year, the act has led to more than 2,500 lawsuits.

(With AP inputs)