Ontiveros v. Zamora et al

Filing 52

ORDER signed by Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton on 8/27/10 GRANTING 50 Request to Seal Document(s); pltfs are instructed to filed Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4 to the declaration of Jose Ontiveros under seal within 7 days; pltfs are cautioned that this sealing is tentative. The court will revisit whether these documents should be permanently sealed at a later time. (Manzer, C)

Ontiveros v. Zamora et al

Doc. 52

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 9 10 11 Plaintiff, 12 v. 13 14 15 Defendants. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 On July 11, 2010, / plaintiff filed a motion for class ROBERT ZAMORA and ZAMORA AUTOMOTIVE GROUP (form unknown), ORDER JOSE ONTIVEROS, NO. CIV. S-08-567 LKK/DAD

certification. Along with this motion plaintiff filed an ex parte application to file exhibits to plaintiff's declaration under seal. ECF No. 50. There is a strong presumption in favor of public access to documents filed in connection with dispositive motions, and this presumption weighs against sealing such documents. Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). Courts may treat motions for class certification as dispositive "where a denial of class status mean that the stakes are too low for the named plaintiffs to continue the matter, or where the grant of 1
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class status raises the cost and stakes of the litigation so substantially that a rational defendant would feel irresistible pressure to settle." Prado-Steiman v. Bush, F.3d 1266, 1274 (11th

Cir. 2000); see also Chamberlan v. Ford Motor Co., 402 F.3d 952, 957 (9th Cir. 2005) (adopting Prado-Steiman's approach). In the context of a dispositive motion, "the district court must base its decision [to seal materials] on a compelling reason and articulate the factual basis for its ruling, without relying on hypothesis or conjecture." Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d

1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). The court tentatively GRANTS plaintiffs' application.

Plaintiffs are instructed to file Exhibits 1, 2, 3, and 4 to the Declaration of Jose Ontiveros under seal within seven (7) days of the issuance of this order. Plaintiffs are cautioned, however, that this sealing is tentative. Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1186. The court will revisit whether these documents should be permanently sealed at a later time, when it is possible to perform the fact specific analysis required by Foltz. IT IS SO ORDERED.1 DATED: August 27, 2010.

The court notes that it recently stayed proceedings in this case. The stay remains in effect. 2

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