K.A. v. CITY OF NEW YORK
K.A., S.A., L.R., L.J., and JANE DOES 1-25 v. CITY OF NEW YORK, CORIZON HEALTH, INC., CORIZON, INC. and SIDNEY WILSON, individually and in his official capacity
- Laura Swain
- 1:16-cv-04936
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In K.A. v. City of New York, Judge Swain denied settlement approval and granted in part and denied in part the sealing request.
A.J., as representative of L.J.’s estate, did not obtain court approval of the settlement under Local Civil Rule 83.2(b) and must publicly file redacted versions of most submitted documents. The settlement agreement remains sealed, while the fact of settlement remains public.
What happened
In K.A., S.A., L.R., L.J., and Jane Does 1-25 v. City of New York, Corizon Health, Inc., Corizon, Inc., and Sidney Wilson, A.J., representing L.J.’s estate, asked the court to approve a settlement with Wilson and seal the submitted documents. L.J. died while the case was pending, and A.J. later became the estate’s representative.
The court ruled that the settlement-approval rule for wrongful-death or conscious-pain-and-suffering claims did not apply. The opinion says there was no wrongful-death claim and no conscious-pain-and-suffering claim. The court also found that the settlement documents were judicial documents subject to public-access rules, but recognized an interest in keeping the settlement’s precise terms confidential.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the settlement-approval request in its entirety and granted in part and denied in part the sealing request. The settlement agreement remains sealed. A.J. must file public versions of the other listed documents, redacting only references to the settlement’s precise terms.
The detailed version
- K.A. v. CITY OF NEW YORK · No. 1:16-cv-04936
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 3, 2025
Background
A.J., acting as the personal representative of the estate of Plaintiff L.J., moved for approval of a settlement with Defendant Sidney Wilson under Local Civil Rule 83.2(b). A.J. also asked the court to seal all documents submitted with that motion. The opinion states that L.J. died on November 23, 2023, while the case was pending, and that A.J. was appointed personal representative on June 30, 2025.
Settlement-Approval Request
The court denied the request in its entirety. Local Civil Rule 83.2(b) applies to an action involving wrongful death or conscious pain and suffering of a decedent. The court explained that “conscious pain and suffering” is a term of art under New York law requiring proof that the decedent was conscious or partly conscious between the injury and death and experienced physical or mental pain during that period.
The court found that the rule did not apply because L.J. was alive when the lawsuit was filed, the case did not include a wrongful-death claim, and L.J. did not bring a conscious-pain-and-suffering claim. The court also noted that A.J. provided no other authority for the court to apportion the settlement or approve attorney fees.
Sealing Request
The court granted in part and denied in part the request to seal. Applying the three-part test for sealing judicial documents, the court first determined that all six categories of submitted materials were judicial documents because A.J. asked the court to rely on them in deciding the motion. Judicial documents carry a presumption of public access, and the court found that presumption strong because the materials were used to determine litigants’ substantive legal rights and directly affected an adjudication.
The court recognized a strong interest in keeping the precise terms of a settlement confidential, including information such as the consideration amount. But the fact that a settlement occurred was already public because counsel had informed the court that the claims against Wilson had been settled and releases had been signed. The court therefore concluded that the fact of settlement did not need to remain sealed.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain denied the motion for approval of the settlement under Local Civil Rule 83.2(b) in its entirety. The court granted in part and denied in part the motion to seal. Docket entry 274-2, the settlement agreement, must remain sealed. A.J. must file redacted versions of docket entries 272, 273, 274, 274-1, and 275 on the public docket, with redactions limited to references to the precise settlement terms.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.