Judge Dismisses Suit Accusing Yeshiva University of Hiding Abuse

By Ariel Kaminer
New York Times
January 31, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/nyregion/judge-dismisses-suit-accusing-yeshiva-university-of-hiding-abuse.html

A federal lawsuit accusing Yeshiva University of covering up the sexual abuse of dozens of high school students has been thrown out by the judge hearing the case.

The lawsuit sought to hold the school, former administrators and former trustees accountable for hundreds of acts of abuse by two rabbis and an alumnus during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. But the judge, John G. Koeltl of United States District Court in Manhattan, ruled on Thursday that it could not proceed because too many years had elapsed since the abuses took place.

The plaintiffs had sought to circumvent the statutes of limitations. They argued that the clock did not start ticking on their case until Yeshiva’s role in covering up the abuse was revealed in a December 2012 article in The Daily Forward.

But Judge Koeltl rejected that argument. “In this case,” he wrote, “the statutes of limitations have expired decades ago, and no exceptions apply.”

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In a statement, Yeshiva, a Modern Orthodox Jewish institution that comprises a high school and a university, announced it was “gratified that the federal court recognized the validity of our arguments.” It continued, “Our thoughts and remorse remain with those affected and harmed.”

Though Judge Koeltl sided with the school on that point of law, he did not dispute the former students’ account of being victimized by authority figures. “There is no indication,” he wrote, “that the defendants took any remedial action on behalf of their awareness of the sexual abuse that had occurred. To the contrary, the defendants allegedly failed to disclose to parents, teachers, or any law enforcement officials.”

Kevin Mulhearn, the lawyer representing the 34 plaintiffs, called the decision “an abomination.”

“The judge is saying: If you, the school, have engaged in a cover-up, and if you’ve done it long enough and well enough, you’re going to come up roses.” He said his clients would “vigorously pursue our appeals.”

At two other private schools in New York City, former students who alleged abused by faculty members have recently undertaken legal action despite the passage of decades. Plaintiffs from Poly Prep (represented by Mr. Mulhearn) won the right to pursue their case in court based on the argument that the school had engaged in a cover-up. At Horace Mann, former students reached individual out-of-court settlements with the school.

Last year Chancellor Norman Lamm, who was retiring after many decades at Yeshiva University, issued a public apology for the way he had handled the allegations of abuse. “Despite my best intentions then,” he wrote, “I now recognize that I was wrong.”