On June 30, Associate New York State Supreme Court Justice Steven M. Jaeger ruled that legal proceedings against alleged sexual abuser Edwin Gaynor would be halted temporarily following last month’s death of Kevin Swayne, one of the plaintiffs in the matter. The decision came after lawyers for the Archdiocese of New York—which is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit—petitioned Jaeger on July 28 to delay the planned deposition of Gaynor that was to be scheduled for sometime later this month.
In his decision, Jaeger ruled that all actions of discovery in a consolidated case against Gaynor and the Archdiocese filed under the Child Victims Act be suspended until such a time that Swayne’s family is able to join the lawsuit as a representative of his estate.
Swayne, who died on May 18 at the age of 63, was among the first to come forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Gaynor, who served as a teacher and coach at various Catholic schools in Westchester over four decades. He filed a lawsuit against Gaynor, the Archdiocese and the Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Scarsdale on Dec. 26, 2019. In that suit, he alleged several accounts of sexual abuse by Gaynor—a physical education instructor at IHM—that took place between 1964 and 1965. Swayne also noted in his suit that he believed that his older brother William, who died in 2008, was also molested by the former educator.
Another brother, Stephen, declined to speak with the Review regarding the Swayne family’s plans to continue with legal action, but Barbara Hart—who represents several plaintiffs in the case on behalf of Grant & Eisenhofer, P.A.—informed the court that the family was planning to move ahead as part of the consolidated suit.
“Mr. Swayne’s family is in the processes of establishing his estate, which the family intends to substitute for Plaintiff the Swayne Action as soon as feasible,” wrote Hart in a June 22 letter to Jaeger.
As the Swayne case has been consolidated with several similar lawsuits filed against Gaynor and the Archdiocese—35 individuals have now come forward with accusations—the ruling will have a significant impact on other plaintiffs seeking the deposition of Gaynor. Multiple motions have been filed in an attempt to compel Gaynor’s testimony since 2019, only to have those requests foiled by coronavirus-related court closures, multiple appeals by archdiocesan lawyers and Gaynor’s steadfast refusal to comply with court orders.
In November 2020, Jaeger held Gaynor in contempt of court and levied a $250 per day fine against the 86-year-old Ossining resident, although one lawyer working on the case at the time told the Review that, due to Gaynor’s advanced age, the fines were unenforceable and “basically theoretical.”
Prior to the June 30 ruling, Hart had been working with the courts to set a date for a deposition, and sent a June 28 letter to Jaeger in order to stress the need for swift resolution given the advanced ages of some of the accusers.
“Plaintiffs in other actions . . . are also elderly and/or have distressing diagnoses or serious medical conditions,” she wrote. “If the [court] will act to stay proceedings each time a plaintiff passes in one of the consolidated actions, there will be significant delay and prejudice to all of the other consolidated plaintiffs in pursuing their independent actions.”
Contact: sports@hometwn.com
