Michigan to give sexual abuse victims more time to sue

MICHIGAN GOV Rick Snyder is expected to sign into law bills inspired by the Larry Nassar scandal, including one approved Tuesday that would give childhood sexual abuse victims more time to sue.

The current cut-off to file a lawsuit in Michigan is generally a minor victim’s 19th birthday, which critics say is out of step with the laws in other states and does not account for how many victims are afraid to report abuse or have suppressed it.

On a 34-2 vote, the Republican-led state Senate gave final approval to a measure that would allow people who were sexually abused as children to sue until their 28th birthdays or three years from when they realised they had been abused. Nassar victims would get a 90day window to sue retroactively, leading some state senators from both parties to reluctantly vote for the legislation after the state House scaled back the retroactive provision to not include other victims abused as children since 1997.

“These bills have been whittled down to only provide justice for certain survivors. We owe every single survivor access to justice,” said Sen Curtis Hertel Jr, an East Lansing Democrat whose district includes Michigan State University.

As part of a US$500 million settlement with Michigan State, the imprisoned sports doctor’s former employer, his hundreds of accusers agreed to withdraw their support for measures that would have eliminated the immunity defence in lawsuits for entities that are negligent in the hiring, supervision or training of employees, or if the governmental agencies knew or should have known and failed to report sexual misconduct to law enforcement. The Catholic Church, universities, governments, businesses and non-profits had pushed back against some bills, citing concerns about being unfairly able to defend themselves against decades-old claims.