Picture: Workplace of Jessica González-Rojas
April 23, 2025 By Shane O’Brien
Meeting Member Jessica González-Rojas joined fellow lawmakers, authorized consultants and survivors of sexual assault on Tuesday to name for the passage of the Converse Your Fact Act, laws aimed toward defending survivors who converse publicly about abuse from retaliatory defamation lawsuits.
At a digital press convention, González-Rojas and supporters argued that survivors face a “very real” danger of being countersued for defamation by the people they accuse, a menace they are saying discourages victims from coming ahead.
If enacted, the Converse Your Fact Act would classify communications associated to sexual assault as privileged in civil proceedings, shielding them from use in defamation fits. The invoice would additionally enable courts to require plaintiffs who lose such defamation circumstances to cowl survivors’ authorized prices and associated damages.
Modeled after a legislation launched in California in 2023, the proposed laws has since been adopted in 16 states. Advocates mentioned retaliatory defamation lawsuits have been used as “silencing tactics” in a number of high-profile circumstances.
Throughout Tuesday’s occasion, audio system referenced authorized threats made by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’s at the moment a front-runner within the 2025 New York Metropolis mayoral race. Cuomo resigned in 2021 after a number of allegations of sexual harassment, which he has repeatedly denied.
File Picture from the workplace of former Gov. Cuomo
Cuomo has threatened to sue Charlotte Bennett, a former aide who accused him of sexual harassment, and her legal professional Debra Katz, following the dismissal of a federal lawsuit Bennett filed final 12 months. In line with a New York Submit report, Cuomo’s authorized staff accused Bennett and her legal professional of knowingly making false and defamatory statements with the intent to wreck his repute.
Lawyer Victoria Burke, who developed the California laws that impressed the New York invoice, cited the Cuomo case for instance of how defamation lawsuits can be utilized to suppress survivors’ voices.
“Even right now, there’s a former governor suing one of the people who came forward in his case,” Burke mentioned. “It’s happening all the time, and there’s now a cottage industry of attorneys that have sprung up just to bring these crushing lawsuits forward.”
Emily Miles, government director of the New York Metropolis Alliance Towards Sexual Assault, mentioned high-profile defamation threats might discourage different victims from reporting abuse.
“With every case, survivors are watching,” Miles mentioned. “There are so many people who have experienced harassment and sexual abuse who are wondering what’s going to happen, or what might happen, if they come forward.”
González-Rojas, who represents District 34—which incorporates Astoria, Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside—chairs the Process Pressure on Ladies’s Points and is the invoice’s lead sponsor. She mentioned she believes defamation threats are generally used to discourage survivors from looking for justice.
“We’ve seen too many abusers, including former Governor Cuomo, threaten or weaponize defamation lawsuits against the people they’ve harmed for simply speaking out,” she mentioned in a press release.
Cuomo’s spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi didn’t touch upon the laws however pointed to a earlier assertion relating to the Bennett case. In an April 18 assertion, Azzopardi alleged that Bennett had filed a “fraudulent” lawsuit and voluntarily dismissed the case earlier than going through a deposition.
“If Ms. Bennett had been forced to give a deposition in her case against the State, she would have dropped that lawsuit too because she cannot testify under oath and answer for the evidence obtained,” Azzopardi mentioned.
Supporters of the Converse Your Fact Act keep that the invoice just isn’t supposed to focus on any particular case or particular person, however relatively to supply authorized safety for all survivors of sexual abuse or harassment.
González-Rojas, a sexual assault survivor herself, mentioned the invoice would take away a serious barrier to justice.
“Survivors have every right to bring civil action against those who abused them without fearing retaliation,” she mentioned. “I urge my colleagues in the Assembly and Senate to pass this important bill and for Governor Hochul to swiftly sign it into law.”
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who sponsors the laws within the Senate, mentioned defamation lawsuits are sometimes introduced by rich people in positions of energy as a option to intimidate victims.
“These lawsuits… are used to silence and discredit survivors, as well as discourage them from speaking out at all to avoid expensive court cases and potential financial losses,” Hoylman-Sigal mentioned.
Different lawmakers voiced comparable issues. Meeting Member Jo Anne Simon mentioned the specter of defamation lawsuits deters victims from reporting abuse. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes mentioned the tactic has turn out to be a typical technique of management.
“We’ve seen this playbook again and again, whether it’s against Hollywood celebrities or everyday New Yorkers,” Gounardes mentioned. “The goal is to intimidate and silence survivors.”
Erica Vladimer, co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, urged lawmakers to behave rapidly, arguing that present legal guidelines enable abusers to proceed harming victims by means of the authorized system.
“Lawmakers cannot claim that everyone deserves to speak their truth while simultaneously leaving New Yorkers vulnerable to unjust defamation lawsuits,” Vladimer mentioned.
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