Jhuca v. Aviles-Ramos
- Vyskocil
- 1:25-cv-03308
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Jhuca v. Aviles-Ramos, Judge Vyskocil provisionally granted plaintiffs’ request to seal the administrative record pending resolution of summary judgment.
The plaintiffs, including K.A., a minor, and the defendants are affected by the provisional sealing order. The order primarily protects the privacy of information about K.A. in the administrative record.
What happened
In Jhuca et al. v. Aviles-Ramos et al., the plaintiffs asked to file the administrative record under seal in their Individuals with Disabilities Education Act case. The record concerns K.A., a minor, and includes health, disability, and education information.
The plaintiffs argued that this information is confidential and that protecting K.A.’s privacy justified sealing the record. They also said the record exceeds 900 pages, making redaction too burdensome, and that removing the sensitive information would make the record difficult to understand. Defense counsel did not object.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil provisionally granted the request to seal, pending resolution of the pending motion for summary judgment. The order did not decide the underlying education dispute.
The detailed version
- Jhuca v. Aviles-Ramos · No. 1:25-cv-03308
- Vyskocil
- Oct. 9, 2025
Background
The plaintiffs brought this action under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. They asked permission to file the administrative record under seal. The record concerns K.A., whom the filing identifies as a minor, and contains personally identifiable information and sensitive details about her health, disabilities, education, and required services.
Request to Seal
The plaintiffs relied on the privacy interests recognized in the sealing law and on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s confidentiality protections for personal information about children with disabilities and their parents. They stated that the record exceeds 900 pages and contains confidential information throughout. According to the request, redacting the record would be too burdensome, and removing the health and educational information would make the Individualized Education Program difficult to understand and would interfere with evaluating the case. Defense counsel did not object.
Ruling
The court ordered that the plaintiffs’ request to seal was provisionally granted pending resolution of the pending motion for summary judgment, identified as ECF No. 16. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil’s order addressed the filing of the record and did not decide the underlying dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.