Attorney General James Wins Trial for St. Clare's Pensioners

December 12, 2025

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today released the following statement after a Schenectady County jury found the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and the former leadership of St. Clare's Hospital liable for failing to properly administer the St. Clare's Hospital pension plan for 1,124 workers. The jury found that the individual defendants, former Albany bishops Howard Hubbard and Edward Scharfenberger, former diocesan employee and St. Clare's President Joseph Pofit, and former St. Clare's Hospital President Robert Perry, all breached their fiduciary duties to the St. Clare's Hospital and the pensioners. The jury awarded $54.2 million in damages to the pensioners for their lost pension payments. The court will schedule a trial to determine the amount of the punitive damages.

"This verdict is a major victory for every St. Clare's Hospital employee who tirelessly cared for patients and was unjustly denied their pension and the chance to retire with dignity.

"For years, St. Clare's Hospital's leadership misled workers about their pensions and mismanaged the pension program, leaving 1,124 workers with little to nothing to retire on. Today, a jury ruled in the pensioners' favor and held each and every individual who oversaw St. Clare's Hospital's pension accountable for years of neglect and mismanagement.

"No one should ever be deprived of the pension they were promised, and my office will not hesitate to pursue justice against any individual or organization that violates our laws or New Yorkers' trust.

"I am grateful to the members of the jury for their service and care."

In May 2022, Attorney General James sued the Diocese, its bishops and other senior executives who led St. Clare's Hospital, along with St. Clare's Corporation for failing to preserve and protect the hospital's pension plan for 1,124 pensioners. The lawsuit alleged that the Diocese and the individual defendants violated their fiduciary duties under New York law by failing to take adequate measures to secure the employees' pensions, failing to make any annual contributions to the pension for all but two years from 2000 to 2019, and hiding the collapse of the pension plan from former hospital workers who were vested in the plan. Over 600 former St. Clare's employees who had vested pension benefits lost all of their earned pensions. In May 2025, a judge denied motions by the Diocese and the other defendants to dismiss the case before trial.

During the six-week trial before Schenectady Supreme Court Justice Vincent Versaci, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) presented evidence detailing the failure of the pension plan, the individual defendants' conduct which caused that failure, and false statements by several defendants to the pensioners about the condition of the plan and the safety of their benefits.

Attorney General James thanks the AARP Foundation for its collaboration in this matter.

For OAG, the team was led by Assistant Attorney General Diane Hertz, and the trial team included Assistant Attorneys General Monica Connell, Jonathan Conley, Jonathan Lester, and Daniel Sugarman, and Nyna Sargent, all of the Charities Bureau, under the supervision of Chief of the Enforcement Section Emily Stern. The Charities Bureau is led by Bureau Chief James Sheehan and is part of the Division of Social Justice. The Division of Social Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.