Grieving Families Act Supporters Hope Third Time’s the Charm for Beleaguered Bill

Backers of a bill to update New York state’s wrongful death laws to allow victims’ families to sue for damages and emotional pain hope a new version will finally convince the governor to sign the measure — if they can get it passed before Albany’s summer break.

The long-pursued Grieving Families Act was amended this legislative session to change the list of eligible people who can file wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of their loved one — following two vetoes by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The list now just includes spouses, domestic partners and parents and legal guardians of minors. If the deceased is an adult and doesn’t have a spouse or child, a parent or grandparent could also sue, according to the proposed legislation.

The previously rejected versions of the bill had stated any “close family” member could sue but left the term undefined, meaning it could possibly include aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and cousins.

Hochul has cited that lack of definition — as well as the measure’s likely effects on the health care system — as a reason for her vetoes .

Supporters contend the Grieving Families Act is needed to update the more than 170-year-old wrongful death statute and enable family members to pursue monetary damages for grief and anguish caused by a person’s death.

Currently, the law only covers financial loss as a result of the deceased relative no longer providing an income.

The proposed bill is expected to pass both state legislative houses by the end of the session on June 6, according to legislative insiders. The last two versions overwhelmingly passed in previous terms. It is one of many measures lawmakers are seeking to push through before they break for summer.

Lasting Ripples of Grief

Proponents of the Grieving Families Act  say that the most likely people to benefit would be marginalized populations and people of color.

“Who is most likely to be impacted by wrongful death are marginalized populations, people of color, my daughter was a woman of color,” said Shawnee Benton-Gibson, whose daughter Shamony Makeba Gibson , a 30-year-old Brooklyn woman died in October 2019 after giving birth to her son two weeks earlier.

The family’s legal suit was complicated by the pandemic and was never properly filed, according to her mother,

“When you lose a mother the ripple lasts for years to come,” Benton-Gibson said.

“The Grieving Families Act allows us to deal with some of those ripples, which are financial,” she continued, noting that “money can never compensate with just the grief and anguish that comes with this type of devastating loss but at least we’d have support to cover children fully.”

But Hochul has ultimate say.

While the governor cited in her veto remarks what she called an overly broad definition of close family members eligible to sue, she has also voiced concerns over the measure’s retroactive nature and possible impact on insurance premiums.

Hochul spokesperson Avi Small said Monday that the governor “will review the legislation if it passes both houses of the Legislature.”

The legislation has also previously been opposed by major hospitals and insurance firms — which would likely be on the hook for larger payouts.

That list includes NYU Langone Health, New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Insurance, the United Services Automobile Association, the Medical Society of the State of New York and AIG.

They contend that expanding what people can sue for will unfairly cost them millions and create an insurmountable financial burden.

Before she issued her second veto last December, Hochul suggested that she would support a watered down “ compromise ” version of the bill that would exempt medical malpractice claims. Backers of the legislation balked, arguing that would unfairly limit what types of cases would be eligible.

“New York is out of step with almost every other state in the nation when it comes to wrongful death laws,” said State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), the bill’s lead sponsor in that chamber.

“We’ve denied countless family members the proper consideration for their loved ones because our current statute considers only economic loss,” he added. “Courts are forced to discount the value of lives in wrongful death actions for those who aren’t breadwinners for their families, resulting in a disproportionate negative impact on people of color, women, children, seniors and New Yorkers with disabilities.”

The governor also argued that lawmakers passed the bill without consulting with her beforehand.

“Let’s actually have collaboration during the process instead of you pass in this house, you pass this house, and you put it on the governor’s desk without engagement,” she told reporters in January.

What Is a Life Worth?

Assemblymember Helene Weinstein (D-Brooklyn) has spent the past 30 years pushing for some version of the bill.

“The legislation establishes a value on the love, the loss, and the pain a family experiences when a loved one’s death is caused by another,” she wrote in a November 2023 Daily News editorial . “The state would no longer equate the value of a person’s life to the size of their paycheck, and will expand the law’s current definition of family.”

In March, Weinstein, who has spent more than 40 years in office, announced she will not be seeking re-election.

Supporters of the bill hope it finally moves past the finish line in her last year in office.

That includes Leszek Wiszowaty, whose 18-year-old son, Matthew, drowned in the turbulent waters of Queens’ Rockaway Beach in August 2021.

He’s suing the City of New York and its Department of Parks and Recreation for, among other things, allegedly failing to staff lifeguards in the “dangerous” area.

He’s hopeful that state lawmakers and the governor have discussed the new version of the bill.

“It would be a waste of time and resources to continue passing laws that the governor would veto again,” he told THE CITY.

“New York families deserve better than what’s offered to them now,” he added. “Insurance companies and other interest groups cite costs associated with the changes and they do everything possible to block this law in New York.”

Gibson’s family is also pushing for the latest version of the bill.

“She left two kids behind, a baby that was 14 days old,” her mother said. “And my grandson will be five this year. He has no recall of his mother, of course, because he was much too young.”

“And, like many deaths, it was definitely preventable,” added Benton-Gibson. “It is sad that the folks who were charged to serve her and support her, didn’t listen to her and didn’t provide her with the care that was needed that could have saved her life.”

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