CJCC Demands Hochul Finally Enforce the Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2025
Contact: Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation (CJCC)
dave@cpsnewyork.com | (518) 729-0469
Albany, NY — Survivors of childhood sexual abuse will begin giving testimony today in the Albany Diocese’s bankruptcy case, just days after a federal judge denied insurers standing to block their claims. The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation (CJCC) said the ruling confirms what survivors have long known — that insurers are using stall tactics to avoid responsibility — and called on Governor Kathy Hochul to finally enforce state law and hold insurers accountable.
In a September 3 decision, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert E. Littlefield, Jr. denied motions by London Market and Hartford insurers to disallow survivor claims in the Albany Diocese case, ruling that they lacked standing because they have not accepted financial responsibility. The court emphasized that insurers cannot deny liability while simultaneously trying to control the bankruptcy process — a finding that mirrors what survivors have long argued about the industry’s delay-and-deny tactics.For years, insurers have used a calculated strategy of delay and denial — dragging cases through bankruptcy courts, refusing to honor obligations, and only paying after churches and nonprofits have been bankrupted and the sheer passage of time has reduced the number of survivors left to compensate. This pattern has played out across the country. In Buffalo, it took more than five years of bankruptcy proceedings before two insurers finally agreed to pay $120 million on top of the $150 million committed by the diocese, bringing total survivor compensation to $270 million. That deal only came after years of stalling, during which many survivors passed away before seeing justice.This obstruction has been allowed to continue because New York State has failed to enforce its own rules. For years, the Hochul administration has ignored its own guidance under DFS Circular Letter No. 11, which makes clear that insurers cannot abandon policyholders when claims of sexual abuse are made. By refusing to enforce that guidance, Governor Hochul’s administration has enabled the very delay-and-deny tactics that keep survivors waiting in courtrooms while insurers protect their profits.Gary Greenberg, survivor and longtime advocate for New York’s Child Victims Act, said:“For decades, the Catholic Church covered up these crimes, and now the insurance industry is doing the same by refusing to pay survivors what they are owed. Survivors are dying while insurers like Chubb hide behind fine print and stall in courtrooms. This bankruptcy has become nothing more than a shield for insurers to escape responsibility. That must end.”Steve Jimenez, survivor and trustee of CJCC, added:“It takes extraordinary courage for survivors to walk into a courtroom and tell the truth about what happened to them as children. Their voices are more powerful than any legal maneuver or bankruptcy filing. Yet Governor Hochul’s administration has turned a blind eye, siding with billion-dollar insurers instead of the people who suffered. Survivors deserve more than empty words — they deserve action.”Dave Catalfamo, Executive Director of CJCC, said:“The court has now recognized what survivors have been saying all along — that insurers are using stall tactics to avoid responsibility. Survivors themselves understand these tactics because they live with the consequences every day. The only one who doesn’t seem to recognize it is Governor Hochul, whose administration continues to ignore its own rules and allow insurers to delay justice. Survivors deserve better.”CJCC pledged to continue fighting for survivors of abuse across New York and to press the Hochul administration and Legislature for a comprehensive solution that delivers justice and compensation.
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