(The Center Square) — A federal judge in New York has dismissed a civil lawsuit against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, alleging that he mismanaged the state’s pandemic response in nursing homes.
The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Failla dismissed the legal challenge filed by families who lost loved ones to COVID-19 in nursing homes during the pandemic, saying they did not have a federal right to sue for monetary damages. In the 44-page ruling, Failla said she has the “deepest sympathy” for the plaintiffs and their families for COVID-19-related deaths but said “the fact remains that their proffered claims are not legally viable.”
“The court’s sympathy for plaintiffs and their loved ones simply cannot supplant governing law,” she wrote. “The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate all pending motions, terminate all remaining dates, and close this case.”
Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi praised the ruling, saying it vindicated their claims the then-governor didn’t mismanage the state’s COVID-19 response and that critics had targeted him for political reasons.
“This follows the DOJ — which launched three separate probes — and the Manhattan district attorney who each previously investigated the nursing home issue, but did not move forward as the result of no evidence of wrongdoing,” he said in a statement. “Once again, justice has prevailed.”
He pointed to a recent Justice Department watchdog report suggesting that leaks to the media about the agency’s investigations into pandemic-related nursing home deaths in New York and New Jersey were aimed at influencing the 2020 election in then-President Donald Trump’s favor.
“As we pass the fifth anniversary of COVID, the pain of those who have lost loved ones continues to be weaponized for political purposes and electoral gain at the highest levels,” Azzopardi said. “More than a million Americans were lost because of COVID and we continue to mourn with the families of every single one.”
The ruling comes as Cuomo is seeking to resurrect his political career after stepping down from the governor’s office in 2021 amid sexual harassment allegations that he has denied. He is widely viewed as the Democratic frontrunner in a crowded race to unseat New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is trailing in recent polls.
Cuomo has faced legal challenges over a March 25, 2020, directive requiring nursing homes to begin accepting “medically stable” patients recovering from COVID-19 as they were discharged from hospitals. It was rescinded after several weeks, but Cuomo was widely criticized for contributing to the high death toll in the state’s long-term care facilities.
More than 80,000 New Yorkers died of COVID-19 from the beginning of the pandemic to May 2023, including 15,000 nursing home residents, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Justice Department investigated whether Cuomo’s policy violated residents’ civil rights in New York’s nursing homes and found no wrongdoing. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office also conducted a probe, which was later abandoned. Both investigations determined that New York’s directive was in line with federal health policies that were in place at the time.
However, a recent independent report slammed Cuomo’s “top down” response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, saying it caused “unnecessary confusion” for New Yorkers in the early days of the public health emergency.
In September, House Republicans grilled Cuomo over the policy, saying it ignored the science on infectious controls in nursing home settings and federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare guidance that conflicted with his directive.
But Cuomo pointed the blame for the high number of COVID-19 deaths nationwide on then-President Trump, whom he claimed “willfully deceived the American people” during the pandemic.
