Second COVID nursing home death's case against Cuomo tossed

A federal judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit accusing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his administration of being responsible for the deaths of their loved ones in nursing homes during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla wrote on Monday that although what happened was heartbreaking, the families’ legal arguments didn’t meet the standard for suing in federal court.

Cuomo, who was governor at the time, issued a March 2020 directive that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. The directive was aimed at freeing up beds for overwhelmed hospitals. 

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More than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were released from hospitals into nursing homes under the directive, which was later rescinded amid speculation that it had accelerated outbreaks. 

The eight plaintiffs in the case argued that their loved ones contracted COVID-19 in nursing homes and died as a result of the directive\. They accused Cuomo and his administration of being civilly liable for their deaths as well as being liable for failing to accurately report the number of nursing home deaths in New York state that resulted from the virus. 

Failla, an Obama appointee, said the government wasn’t directly responsible for the deaths, even if its policies had tragic consequences.

"The Court’s sympathy for Plaintiffs and their loved ones simply cannot supplant governing law," Failla wrote.

She wrote that the plaintiffs' arguments did not meet the high bar of "shocking the public conscience" which is needed for this type of lawsuit and that officials acted during a fast-moving crisis.

The family members accused the defendants of violating the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. They also brought state law claims including wrongful death and gross negligence under New York law.

Failla dismissed most of the claims on jurisdictional grounds and without prejudice.

"The Court does not question the sincerity or depth of Plaintiffs’ loss," she wrote. "But the law, as it currently stands, does not permit recovery against the Defendants for the harms alleged."

She also emphasized that the case was dismissed based on legal standards, not a denial that harm occurred.

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Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi welcomed the ruling and noted it was the second such case to be tossed on similar grounds. 

"Anytime this issue gets taken out of the press or the political arena and into the courts, the truth wins," Azzopardi said.

Azzopardi said the case follows three separate probes by the Justice Department as well as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

"Once again, justice has prevailed."

Cuomo, who is currently running for New York City Mayor, has previously said that the directive was based on Center for Diseases and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance at the time.

A report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller found Cuomo's Health Department "was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes" and it "understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%" during some points of the pandemic. 

The former governor was grilled by Republican lawmakers last year about following which House Republicans subsequently recommended the Justice Department pursue criminal charges against him. They accused him of intentionally lying to Congress during the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the excessive number of nursing home fatalities.

A state report later commissioned by Cuomo's successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, found that while the policies on how nursing homes should handle COVID-19 were "rushed and uncoordinated," they were based on the best understanding of the science at the time. 

Cuomo ultimately resigned from office in August 2021 following sexual harassment allegations, which he denies. 

Fox News’ Greg Norman Bradford Betz, Maria Paronich and the Associated Press contributed to this report.