Overview

• New York Governor Kathy Hochul has vetoed the Grieving Families Act for the second time this year, a bill that would have allowed families to recover damages for emotional suffering in wrongful death lawsuits.
• Hochul expressed concerns about the potential for increased insurance premiums for consumers and a risk to the financial well-being of public hospitals and other health care facilities.
• New York is one of the few states that only account for economic loss in wrongful death lawsuits, with compensation based on the potential earning power of the deceased person.
• David Scher, head of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, called Hochul’s veto 'a grave miscarriage of justice,' stating that it upholds a 'perverse standard of morality' in current New York law.
• Hochul remains open to updating the wrongful death statute, but vetoed the bill due to lawmakers failing to adequately address concerns she raised when she vetoed a previous version last January.