Judge Rules for Hammer Deposition

Noting that a sealed deposition in a shareholder lawsuit over the Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center shows the museum intends to engage in “novel methods to seek funds” that “are likely to be controversial,” a Delaware judge has rejected a petition by The Times to make the court document public.

In his ruling Monday, Delaware Vice Chancellor Maurice Hartnett held that the deposition, by Hilary Gibson, the Hammer’s museum’s fund-raising director, “is analogous to testimony about a trade secret, confidential research development or commercial information by a business entity.”

The Gibson deposition is part of the court record in a suit by shareholders against Occidental Petroleum Corp., which is building the Hammer museum in Westwood. The art center, which is to house Hammer’s personal art collections and artworks owned or financed by Occidental, is scheduled to open in November.

The Times had sought to lift the court seal on Gibson’s deposition on grounds that fund-raising plans by a tax-free art center are not equivalent to trade secrets and warrant public scrutiny. In his ruling, Hartnett rejected the argument, holding that “the museum has shown good cause why the transcript of the deposition should remain under seal.”