Foster Poultry Farms, Inc. v. XL Insurance et al

Filing 45

ORDER signed by Senior Judge William B. Shubb on 9/3/2015 DENYING the parties' 38 , 39 Requests to Seal Documents. (Kirksey Smith, K)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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FOSTER POULTRY FARMS, INC.,
Plaintiff,

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v.

CIV. No. 1:14-00953 WBS SAB
ORDER RE: PARTIES’ REQUESTS TO
SEAL DOCUMENTS

CERTAIN UNDERWRITERS AT
LLOYD’S, LONDON,
Defendants.

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Plaintiff and defendants submitted separate requests to

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seal documents in support of their respective motions for summary

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judgment.

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judicial record bears the burden of overcoming a strong

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presumption in favor of public access.

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of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006).

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“articulate compelling reasons supported by specific factual

(See Docket Nos. 38, 39.)

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A party seeking to seal a

Kamakana v. City & County
The party must

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findings that outweigh the general history of access and the

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public policies favoring disclosure, such as the public interest

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in understanding the judicial process.”

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quotation marks and citation omitted).

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seal, the court must balance the competing interests of the

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public and the party seeking to keep records secret.

Id. at 1178-79 (internal
In ruling on a motion to

Id at 1179.

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I. Plaintiff’s Request

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Plaintiff has submitted a request to seal the proposed

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memorandum in support of its motion for partial summary judgment,

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statement of disputed facts, and sixteen supporting exhibits,

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together totaling 317 pages of material.

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(Docket No. 39).)

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(Request to Seal

Plaintiff offers little explanation for its request.

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Plaintiff states that the disclosure of the 317 pages of materials

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could cause it disadvantage, harm, damage, and/or loss.

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boilerplate concerns alone do not outweigh the history of access

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and public policies favoring disclosure to the public.

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McClatchy Newspapers, Inc., 288 F.3d 369 (9th Cir. 2001) (holding

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that injury to official reputation is an insufficient basis for

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preventing public access to court records).

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that the documents include customer information but fails to

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indicate where.

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unable to identify any sensitive or privileged information

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relating to customers.

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a compelling reason to seal the entire memorandum in support of

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plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment or any of the supporting

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materials.

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These

See In re

Plaintiff also states

Upon review of the materials, the court was

Absent any guidance, the court cannot find

II. Defendant’s Request
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Defendants have also requested that the court seal

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documents and redact information in connection with their cross-

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motion for summary judgment.

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Defendants’ only justification for sealing these

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documents is that the parties stipulated to, and the magistrate

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judge entered, a blanket protective order regarding documents to

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be disclosed in this case.

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(Docket No. 28).)

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confidentiality agreement between the parties does not per se

(See Def.’s Request to Seal at 2

This court has previously held that a

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constitute a compelling reason to seal documents that outweighs

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the interests of public disclosure and access.

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Order at 2, Starbucks Corp. v. Amcor Packaging Distrib., Civ. No.

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2:13-1754 (E.D. Cal. 2014).

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judge signed the stipulated protective order does not change this

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principle.

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October 8, 2014

The fact that the assigned magistrate

Beyond the stipulated protective order, defendants offer

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no further guidance as to why these materials should be sealed.

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The burden is not on the court to parse a substantial amount of

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material to determine whether it contains sensitive information.

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IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff’s request to

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seal, (Docket No. 39), and defendants’ request to seal, (Docket

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No. 38), be, and the same hereby are, both DENIED.

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Dated:

September 3, 2015

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