Askew v. R & L Transfer, Inc. et al

Filing 65

OPINION AND ORDER denying defendant R & L Transfer, Inc.'s 48 MOTION for entry of Protective Order, as further set out in order. Signed by Honorable Myron H. Thompson on 12/17/09. (Attachments: # 1 civil appeals checklist)(djy, )

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, EASTERN DIVISION

LUCILE ASKEW, Individually ) and as Administratrix of ) the Estate of Linzie Askew, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) ) R & L TRANSFER, INC., and ) KENNETH LEE HOLT, an ) Individual, ) ) Defendants. )

CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:08cv865-MHT (WO)

OPINION AND ORDER Plaintiff Lucile Askew, personal representative for the estate of her deceased husband, brings this suit against defendants Kenneth Holt and R & L Transfer, Inc. for the wrongful death of her husband. Plaintiff's

husband was killed when a tractor trailer, allegedly owned by R & L Transfer and driven by Holt, collided with his vehicle in Chambers with County, Alabama. Plaintiff claims

charges

defendants

multiple

state-law

asserting negligence and wantonness.

This court has

jurisdiction citizenship).

under

28

U.S.C.

§

1332

(diversity

of

This case is currently before the court

on R & L Transfer's motion for entry of protective order. For the reasons that follow, this motion will be denied. In resolving a pending summary-judgment motion, the court requested that R & L Transfer file information explaining affiliates. its corporate structure and that of its

The company complied with this request, but

asks that the court issue a protective order to shield this information from being made available to the public. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c)(1)(G) states that "The court may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or

undue burden or expense, including ... requiring that a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be revealed or be revealed only in a specified way." "Before entering any

protective order, the Court must find that good cause warrants the entry of the order with respect to each

2

category

of

documents

or

information

sought

to

be

included in the order."

In re Alexander Grant & Co.

Litigation, 820 F.2d 352, 355-57 (11th Cir. 1987). R & L Transfer has not shown good cause to warrant entry of the protective order. structure commercial of R & L Transfer the While the corporate may be confidential of this

information,

disclosure

information must "likely . . . result in a clearly defined and very serious injury" to warrant protection. Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Boeing Co., 2005 WL 5278461, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Grant 2005) & Co. (Spaulding, Litigation, M.J.); 820 see F.2d In at re 356

Alexander

("ascertaining the existence of good cause" generally includes likelihood an of inquiry the into "`the harm severity ....'") and the

perceived

(citation

omitted); see also 8 C. Wright, A. Miller & R. Marcus, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2043, at 556-57 (2d ed. 1994) ("Besides showing that the information qualifies for protection, the moving party must also show good

3

cause for restricting dissemination on the ground that it would be harmed by its disclosure."). While R & L Transfer asserts that it wants to prevent this information from being "used or disclosed outside the litigation" and fears that the "information might be misused," defendant's brief (doc. no. 51) at 4-5, it has offered no evidence that specific or actual harm would result from the dissemination of its corporate structure to the public. Indeed, the company itself offers

information about its corporate structure on its public website. The website explains and that that The R R the & & company L L is

family-owned controls

and

operated

Carriers Family,

Gator

Freightways.

http://www.rlcarriers.com/history.asp (last visited Dec. 7, 2009). R & L Transfer has failed to offer a sufficient showing of "good cause" for a protective order for this evidence, as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 26 (c)(1)(G). ***

4

For

the

foregoing

reasons,

it

is

ORDERED

that

defendant R & L Transfer, Inc.'s motion for entry of protective order (Doc. No. 48) is denied. DONE, this the 17th day of December, 2009. /s/ Myron H. Thompson UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE