A New Jersey Senate committee has unanimously passed legislation that would extend the statute of limitations for victims seeking to file civil lawsuits related to human trafficking.
If enacted, the bill would extend the timeframe for filing such claims from the current five-year limit and allow victims to pursue civil claims within ten years of the alleged conduct, within ten years of a victim turning 18 years old, or within two years of a plaintiff’s discovery of the alleged injury, whichever is later.
The bill further specifies that the civil statute of limitations would not begin to run until the end of the last alleged trafficking incident and may be tolled for any period of time during which the plaintiff is disabled or mentally incapacitated. Further, it prohibits a defendant who “coerced a plaintiff to delay filing suit by means of intimidation, duress, threats or fraud,” from bringing a defense that the statute of limitations has already run and would also eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal charges related to human trafficking in New Jersey.
Geoffrey Rosamond, Chair of McCarter & English’s Business Litigation Practice and a former prosecutor who has represented survivors of human trafficking told the New Jersey Law Journal that the bill’s recommendations would help serve as a deterrent for “abhorrent, just unbelievably cruel, depraved conduct.”
“We could see additional criminal cases and extending the civil limitations is also a good thing. These are the most vulnerable members of society, and the stories are shocking, what some of these survivors have gone through,” Geoffrey said. “Any additional protections, any additional steps, the legislature can take to protect this vulnerable class is just incredible.”
Should the bill become law, Geoffrey anticipates a steady rise in civil filings. Additionally, county prosecutors would have more time to examine evidence, build cases and revisit criminal claims which were once time-barred.
“It’s been something that’s been near and dear to my heart. Just hearing what these men and women have gone through, it’s unimaginable. These perpetrators are the worst of the worst,” he said.