Roberts v. Paypal, Inc.

Filing 25

ORDER by Judge Hamilton denying 22 Administrative Motion to File Under Seal (pjhlc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 7/16/2012)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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DAVID ROBERTS,
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Plaintiff(s),

No. C 12-0622 PJH

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v.

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO SEAL

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PAYPAL, INC.,
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Defendant(s).
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Before the court is defendant PayPal, Inc.’s (“defendant”) motion to seal, filed in

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connection with its motion for summary judgment. Having read defendant’s papers and

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carefully considered its arguments, and the relevant legal authority, the court DENIES

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defendant’s motion, and instead orders defendant to re-file redacted versions of Exhibits A

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and E to the declaration of John Muller.

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The court agrees with defendant that the privacy interests of plaintiff David Roberts

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(“plaintiff”) would be harmed by disclosure of the information contained in defendant’s

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filings. In order to protect parties’ privacy, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 requires

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redaction of financial account information and other personal information. The court finds

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that plaintiff’s phone number and home address implicate the same privacy interests.

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However, because the underlying personal information is not relevant to defendant’s

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motion, and because the Ninth Circuit disfavors the filing of dispositive motions under seal

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(See, e.g., Kamakana v. City & County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir.

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2006)), the court finds that redaction is the appropriate method of protecting plaintiff’s

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privacy interests here. The court notes that defendant has already filed redacted versions

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of its motion for summary judgment and of the exhibits to the declaration of Lisa M.

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Simonetti. The court orders defendant to file similarly-redacted versions of Exhibits A and

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E to the declaration of John Muller, removing any personal information of plaintiff or of nonparties, by July 23, 2012.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: July 16, 2012
______________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge