Levi v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
- Loretta Preska
- 1:22-cv-09524
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Levi v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Judge Preska declined Shelley Levi’s request to seal the case because personal interests did not overcome public access.
Shelley Levi and public access to the court’s records.
What happened
Levi v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center concerns Shelley Levi’s May 19, 2025 request to seal the case.
The court said that Levi’s personal interest did not overcome the strong presumption that court records should be open to the public. The court cited decisions rejecting reputation-related concerns as sufficient to justify sealing.
Judge Loretta A. Preska did not grant the request to seal the case.
The detailed version
- Levi v. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center · No. 1:22-cv-09524
- Loretta Preska
- May 27, 2025
Request
Shelley Levi sent the court a letter dated May 19, 2025, asking that the case be sealed.
Court’s Analysis
The court stated that it sympathized with Levi but could not grant the request because her personal interest did not override the presumption of public access to court records. The court relied on decisions holding that potential reputation harm, and possible harm to employment prospects, did not meet the demanding standard for overcoming the presumption that court records are open.
Disposition
The court did not grant Levi’s request to seal the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.