More than 1,100 health care professionals employed at St. Clare’s Hospital lost some or all of their retirement savings when the hospital's pension fund dried up. Now, they’ll get their day in court.
New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese, its leadership, and the St. Clare's Corporation in May 2022, saying their "negligent and intentional actions that deprived” the former employees their pensions. The hospital's pension fund dried up in 2018.
State Supreme Court Judge Vincent Versaci has scheduled a May 29th meeting to set a date for a jury trial.
St. Clare’s Hospital Recovery Alliance Chair Mary Hartshorne says after nearly seven years, it will allow pensioners to be part of the diocese’s bankruptcy proceedings.
"When I was at the hearing last month, I was discouraged because there were so many issues brought up by the diocese and the corporation. I didn't think we had such good chance, but we had a forceful power of attorneys. And now, since Judge Versaci has ruled against a dismissal and in favor of us approving what we brought forth, it has given us more than a ray of hope," said Hartshorne.
AARP co-represents the pensioners alongside James. Louis Lopez is vice president of litigation at AARP Foundation.
"I think we were in a cautiously optimistic that we would have a favorable outcome, particularly after the oral argument and so we were not completely surprised. But I'm certainly pleased with the outcome of a clean sweep on the defendant's motions for summary judgment, but also on our own partial motion for summary judgment, in this case again that the hearing and these motions were all about clearing a path for trial and that's really what we were able to do, moving this case forward because so many of the pensioners, as you may know, many have passed away and we really do want to try to get justice for the ones that we still have as quickly as possible," Lopez said.
The outcome of the case could have implications for church-affiliated hospitals and their employees nationwide.
Hartshorne said "My only hope at this point is that Judge Versaci makes it an early trial rather than later in the year, because we're going on eight years, and that's just too long. We're losing people all the time. So we're just going to keep praying. We never give up."
The diocese says in statement it has received the decision and “will respect the process.”
It declared bankruptcy in 2023 in the face of hundreds of lawsuits under the state’s Child Victims Act.
