Simon-Whelan v. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
- Laura Swain
- 1:07-cv-06423
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Joe Simon-Whelan v. The Andy Warhol Foundation, Judge Swain ordered old exhibits sealed and allowed written objections within 21 days.
The order affects the exhibits submitted with Joe Simon-Whelan’s 2010 letter, the parties who designated documents confidential during discovery, the Clerk of Court, and members of the public seeking access to those exhibits.
What happened
Joe Simon-Whelan’s case against The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. and other defendants had already had all claims dismissed under a settlement agreement. The court received a 2025 letter referring to exhibits submitted with a 2010 letter after that dismissal.
The exhibits were not added to the court’s electronic docket but were kept in the Court’s Open Records Room. The court said no action had been taken on the 2010 letter and that the exhibits therefore did not appear to be documents entitled to the usual presumption of public access.
The clerk was directed to remove the exhibits from the Open Records Room and file them under seal because many or all had been designated confidential during discovery. Judge Laura Taylor Swain allowed written objections to continuing the sealing indefinitely within 21 days of the order.
The detailed version
- Simon-Whelan v. The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts · No. 1:07-cv-06423
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 18, 2025
Background
The court received a November 10, 2025 letter from counsel for Joe Simon-Whelan. That letter referred to exhibits submitted with a November 5, 2010 letter. The exhibits had not been digitized or linked to the docket; they had been deposited in the Court’s Open Records Room.
The court explained that the 2010 letter was filed after all claims in the case had been dismissed under a settlement stipulation. Because no action was taken on the matters discussed in that letter, the court stated that none of the submitted documents appeared to be “judicial documents”—documents to which a presumption of public access may apply. The court also noted that, according to the 2025 letter, many or all of the exhibits had been designated confidential during discovery under a confidentiality stipulation and order.
Ruling
The court directed the Clerk of Court to remove the exhibits from the Open Records Room and file them under seal. The court based that direction on the confidentiality designations and its conclusion that the documents did not appear subject to the presumption of public access for judicial documents. Any objection to continuing the sealing indefinitely had to be made in writing and filed within 21 days of the order. Judge Laura Taylor Swain signed the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.