Reyes v. San Francisco Unified School District

Filing 141

ORDER by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denying 138 Administrative Motion to File Under Seal (fs, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 8/20/2012)

Download PDF
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 1 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 2 3 4 MARGARET REYES, Plaintiff, 5 6 7 8 9 vs. SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Case No.: 11-cv-04628-YGR ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPTS AND DOCUMENTS IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT Defendant. 10 11 Northern District of California United States District Court 12 13 14 On August 8, 2012, Plaintiff filed an amended Motion to File Under Seal Deposition Transcripts and Documents in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (“Motion to Seal” or “Motion”). (Dkt. No. 138.) Plaintiff seeks leave of court to file documents and deposition transcript excerpts under seal (hereinafter, “Exhibits”) because Defendant considers them confidential and refused to grant permission to file them publicly. Id. at 2. Plaintiff does not believe any of the 15 Exhibits contain confidential information, but makes this Motion because there is a Protective Order 16 in this action. Id. In the Motion to Seal, Plaintiff anticipated that Defendant would assert that a 17 particular document, an email sent from one attorney to another, is privileged. Id. 18 19 20 As a preliminary matter, the Court notes that this Motion to Seal falls under Civ. L.R. 79-5(d), which addresses “Filing a Document Designated Confidential by Another Party.” L.R. 79-5(d) states 21 that a non-designating party wishing to file a document designated confidential must file and serve an 22 administrative motion to seal and lodge the document or memorandum in accordance with the Local 23 Rule. “Within 7 days thereafter, the designating party must file with the Court and serve a declaration 24 establishing that the designated information is sealable, and must lodge and serve a narrowly tailored 25 proposed sealing order, or must withdraw the designation of confidentiality. If the designating party 26 does not file its responsive declaration as required by this subsection, the document or proposed filing 27 will be made part of the public record.” Civ. L.R. 79-5(d). Plaintiff filed this Motion to Seal because 28 the Protective Order requires it and Defendant has been given an opportunity to respond and justify its 1 designation of confidentiality. Defendant, however, did not file a declaration establishing that the 2 designated Exhibits at issue in the Motion to Seal are sealable, nor did counsel lodge and serve a 3 narrowly-tailored proposed sealing order or withdraw the designation of confidentiality. See Civ. 4 L.R. 79-5(d). 5 A motion to seal documents attached to a dispositive motion that are part of the judicial record 678 (9th Cir. 2010). A “party seeking to seal judicial records must show that ‘compelling reasons 8 supported by specific factual findings . . . outweigh the general history of access and the public 9 policies favoring disclosure.’” Id. (quoting Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 10 1172, 1178–79 (9th Cir. 2006)). The trial court must weigh relevant factors including the “public 11 interest in understanding the judicial process and whether disclosure of the material could result in 12 Northern District of California is governed by the “compelling reasons” standard. Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 7 United States District Court 6 improper use of the material for scandalous or libelous purposes or infringement upon trade secrets.” 13 Pintos, 605 F.3d at 679 n. 6 (quoting Hagestad v. Tragesser, 49 F.3d 1430, 1434 (9th Cir. 1995)). In 14 effect, an order authorizing sealing of a document would require the court to lock the courtroom doors 15 as to the proffered material during trial. While the decision to grant or deny a motion to seal is within 16 the trial court’s discretion, the basis must be compelling and the court must articulate its reasoning in 17 approving such a request. Pintos, 605 F.3d at 679. Further, given the importance of the competing 18 interests at stake, any sealing order must be narrowly tailored. Civ. L.R. 79-5(a). “A stipulation . . . 19 that allows a party to designate documents as sealable[] will not suffice to allow the filing of 20 documents under seal.” Id. (emphasis added). 21 The Court hereby DENIES this Motion to Seal because Defendant has not complied with Civ. 22 L.R. 79-5(d) and no party has established that the Exhibits are sealable. The Exhibits at issue in this 23 Motion to Seal must be publicly-filed by Wednesday, August 21, 2012. Chambers copies of the 24 publicly-filed documents must be delivered no later than the next business day at noon. 25 This Order terminates Dkt. No. 138. 26 IT IS SO ORDERED. 27 Dated: August 20, 2012 _________________________________________ YVONNE GONZALEZ ROGERS UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE 28 2

Disclaimer: Justia Dockets & Filings provides public litigation records from the federal appellate and district courts. These filings and docket sheets should not be considered findings of fact or liability, nor do they necessarily reflect the view of Justia.


Why Is My Information Online?