Pryor Cashman Secures Summary Judgment Victory for Robert Motherwell’s Art Foundation
Lead Counsel Perry M. Amsellem, together with Partner William Charron, both co-chairs of Pryor Cashman’s Art Law Group, obtained a significant summary judgment victory for The Dedalus Foundation (f/k/a The Robert Motherwell Foundation), in a long-running suit against Joan Banach, its former officer, director and curator, pending in New York State Supreme court. Banach had been an assistant to the artist Robert Motherwell and, following his death in 1991, continued as an officer, director and curator of the foundation for 17 years.
In 2008, Dedalus terminated Banach’s employment as well as her directorship after learning that she had been anonymously selling undocumented Motherwell art while she was in fact responsible for documenting his art during his lifetime and while employed by the foundation. Dedalus alleges that she stole the Motherwell works in her possession, and first sued Banach in federal court for conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, destruction of computer files and replevin.
Shortly thereafter, Banach sued Dedalus in state court alleging wrongful termination because she claimed to have a contract for “lifetime employment” with the foundation. She subsequently amended her complaint to add a claim for gender-based employment discrimination. Dedalus subsequently consolidated its claims in state court.
Amsellem and his team, which also included Pryor Cashman Associate Eric Dowell, successfully moved to have all of Banach’s “lifetime employment” claims against Dedalus dismissed with prejudice at the pleadings stage; a ruling which was affirmed on appeal.
Following extensive discovery, Pryor Cashman moved for summary judgment, dismissing Banach’s sole remaining claim for gender-based discrimination, and also established her liability for deliberately erasing Dedalus's computer hard drives. She was also found to have lied about the disposition of a laptop computer that belonged to the foundation, which she testified had been lost years before her termination. But in fact, she attempted to wipe clean its data and dispose of it after her termination, instead of returning it to the foundation.
On December 8, 2016, the Hon. Geoffrey Wright issued a 56-page decision constituting a complete victory for Dedalus. The Court granted its motion for summary judgment in full, dismissing Banach’s gender-based discrimination claim and finding her liable for erasing Dedalus’s computers. The Court also fully denied Banach’s motion for summary judgment and directed Dedalus’s counterclaims to proceed to trial.
The Pryor Cashman Team
Amsellem, along with Charron, has handled this matter for Dedalus since inception, with assistance from Dowell and Litigation Partner Benjamin Semel, who joined the team to prosecute the computer spoliation issues.
