Diehl v. The Money Source Inc. et al

Filing 116

Order granting the 99 Unopposed Motion for leave to Seal Document. The exhibits found at docs 90 & 95 will remain SEALED. Defendants' redacted exhibits are to be filed by 5/1/2018. Signed by District Judge William H. Steele on 4/18/2018. (tgw)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
ANASTASIA P. DIEHL,
Plaintiff,
v.
THE MONEY SOURCE, INC., et al.,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION 17-0125-WS-B

ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on Defendants’ Unopposed Motion for Leave to File
Exhibits Under Seal (doc. 99). In support of the Motion and in response to an Order (doc. 101)
entered on March 14, 2018, both LoanCare, LLC and The Money Source Inc. have filed
Supplemental Memoranda (docs. 105, 106).
In connection with their summary judgment filings, defendants The Money Source, Inc.
and LoanCare, LLC filed nearly 500 pages of exhibits, all under seal. The March 14 Order
expressed concern that defendants’ across-the-board sealing of their exhibits would improperly
burden the public’s right of access to the summary judgment record. After all, the March 14
Order recognized, “the common-law right of access includes the right to inspect and copy public
records and documents.” Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., 263 F.3d 1304,
1311 (11th Cir. 2001); see also F.T.C. v. AbbVie Products LLC, 713 F.3d 54, 62 (11th Cir. 2013)
(discussing presumption of public access to judicial records, but observing that judicial records
may be withheld from the public on a finding of good cause pursuant to a balancing test that
weighs competing interests). Although LoanCare and TMS initially championed an
overinclusive, “seal-everything” approach, they responded to the March 14 Order by reviewing
their summary judgment exhibits on a document-by-document basis; proposing that certain
specific exhibits, pages or passages be redacted to protect defendants’ proprietary or
commercially sensitive information or to safeguard plaintiff’s privacy, as articulated in their

Supplemental Memoranda; and stating their acquiescence to the unsealing of all other exhibits in
the summary judgment record. (See doc. 105, at ¶ 16; doc. 106, at ¶ 16.)
The Court appreciates defendants’ careful attention and painstaking efforts to address the
concerns raised in the March 14 Order and to honor the public’s right of access to the greatest
extent possible, while still preserving the parties’ legitimate interests in confidentiality as to
specific items in the summary judgment record. With respect to the particular materials listed in
paragraph 16 of defendants’ Supplemental Memoranda, the Court agrees that TMS and
LoanCare have articulated legitimate grounds for maintaining those items under seal and have
made the requisite showing of good cause to support an order withholding those unredacted
documents from public view.1
In light of the foregoing, Defendants’ Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Exhibits
Under Seal (doc. 99) is granted, and the redactions proposed in their Supplemental Memoranda
are authorized in full. Defendants’ summary judgment exhibits found at docket entries 90 and
95 will remain sealed, subject to the following two conditions: (1) on or before May 1, 2018,
defendants are to make all redactions enumerated in Paragraph 16 of their Supplemental
Memoranda, and to refile on the public docket a complete, redacted set of all summary judgment
exhibits found at docket entries 90 and 95; and (2) the Court will entertain any request from the
plaintiff or any member of the public to revisit the sealed status of any exhibit or redaction to
same upon an appropriate legal showing.
DONE and ORDERED this 18th day of April, 2018.
s/ WILLIAM H. STEELE
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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That said, to the extent that plaintiff might wish to file unsealed, unredacted
versions of exhibits that have been redacted for the stated reason of protecting her privacy
interests, nothing herein would preclude her from doing so.

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