Advocating for the Grieving Families Act: A Step Toward Justice and Accountability

Yesterday, our partner Christopher Donadio and his client Jose Marrero were featured on The Rush Hour on NY1 and interviewed by Annika Pergament. The segment highlighted the urgent need for the Grieving Families Act (GFA) and the devastating personal impact of New York’s outdated wrongful death laws. Jose Marrero shared his tragic story of losing his wife during a routine procedure at Maimonides Medical Center, underscoring the emotional toll on families who are left without fair recourse under current legislation.

The Grieving Families Act (GFA) aims to rectify one of the most longstanding injustices in New York law—the denial of wrongful death restitution for grief and emotional suffering. Under the current system, compensation is limited to the lost income of the deceased and any pain and suffering prior to death. This outdated approach often leaves families of children, stay-at-home parents, and elderly individuals without any restitution, perpetuating systemic inequities.

What Is the Grieving Families Act?

The GFA proposes several critical updates to New York’s wrongful death laws:

Expanded Eligibility: It broadens the list of individuals who can file wrongful death claims to include parents and grandparents of adult children who do not have spouses or dependents.
Emotional Damages: The Act allows family members to seek compensation for the emotional loss of a loved one, addressing the gap in current legislation that limits claims to purely economic damages.
Statute of Limitations: The bill extends the period for filing wrongful death claims from 2 years to 3 years.

These changes would make New York’s laws more equitable, reflecting the true impact of a loved one’s death on a family.

The Legacy of Inequality

New York’s wrongful death statute, dating back to 1847, has roots in a system that insured enslavers against the loss of enslaved individuals. This archaic law continues to deny justice to marginalized groups. Structural racial and gender pay gaps mean that families of women and people of color typically receive less compensation under the current law. Factoring in emotional damages, as the GFA proposes, would bring much-needed fairness and justice to these cases.

Debunking Misleading Claims About Premiums

Opponents of the GFA, including the insurance-backed actuary firm Milliman, have propagated a narrative suggesting that the legislation would lead to skyrocketing medical malpractice premiums. However, their claims fail to account for significant revisions to the 2024 version of the bill, which narrow its scope and reduce potential costs. These changes include:

Limiting recovery for grief damages to individuals explicitly entitled under the Estate Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL).
Restricting the definition of compensable losses.
Shortening the proposed statute of limitations from 3½ years to 3 years.

Historical evidence further undermines Milliman’s projections. When Illinois amended its wrongful death laws in 2007 and later removed caps on noneconomic damages, predictions of premium hikes proved unfounded. Instead, Illinois saw decreases in both malpractice claims and insurance premiums.

Why the GFA Matters

The current New York wrongful death law undervalues the lives of women, minorities, and low-income individuals by reducing human loss to economic metrics. The GFA addresses these inequities, ensuring that families are fairly compensated for emotional losses and deterring negligence that leads to preventable deaths.

Without this legislation, hospitals, employers, and other entities lack sufficient accountability to maintain safe practices. For example, low-income patients and workers on unsafe job sites disproportionately bear the brunt of inadequate protections.

A Call to Action

New York courts have repeatedly criticized the state’s wrongful death statute as archaic and unjust. In Thurston v. State of New York, the court lamented that the law places no intrinsic value on human life, calling it “repugnant” and urging the legislature to act. The Grieving Families Act is a long-overdue response to these calls for reform.

The GFA has garnered bipartisan support and addresses fundamental issues of fairness and justice. By signing this bill into law, Governor Kathy Hochul has the opportunity to correct a longstanding injustice and bring New York’s laws into alignment with those of the majority of states.

Families like Jose Marrero’s—who tragically lost his wife during a routine medical procedure—deserve recognition of their grief and justice for their loss. The passage of the GFA would mark a pivotal step in acknowledging the true value of human life and ensuring accountability for those whose negligence causes irreparable harm.

We urge Governor Hochul to sign the Grieving Families Act into law and stand with grieving families across New York in their pursuit of justice.