Bednar v. County of San Mateo

Filing 31

ORDER. Signed by Judge Hamilton on 5/15/2015. (pjhlc1, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 5/15/2015)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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ERNEST BEDNAR,

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Plaintiff,

No. C 14-0423 PJH

v.

ORDER

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COUNTY OF SAN MATEO,

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Defendant.
_______________________________/

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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On April 8, 2015, counsel for defendant County of San Mateo e-filed a stipulation for

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approval of settlement agreement (Doc. 29). On April 9, 2015, the court approved the

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settlement agreement and dismissed the case (Doc. 30). Also on April 9, 2015, counsel for

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plaintiff Ernest Bednar advised the court that the stipulation contained confidential

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information and had been e-filed in error, and requested that it be locked. The court

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temporarily locked the stipulation and the order approving the stipulation.

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As explained on the court's website, under "Electronic Case Filing - Welcome to

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CM/ECF - Correcting E-Filing Mistakes - Remove a Sensitive E-Filed Document," the

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procedure to be followed when a document containing confidential information has

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inadvertently been e-filed is as follows:

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Remove a Sensitive E-Filed Document
If – and only if – your e-filing mistake involves the unintended disclosure of
confidential information, you may file a motion to remove a sensitive e-filed
document. The Court views removing an e-filed document as a drastic
measure or last resort reserved for documents whose contents are
confidential. If confidential information is not involved, simply e-file a
corrected version.

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A "confidential" document contains:
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Information that must not be viewed by the public as a whole, such as
a document meant to be filed under seal;
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Confidential material in violation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2
or other privacy rules;

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If you have inadvertently e-filed a sensitive document, follow these steps
without delay:

Private information, such as passwords, etc.

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1.
Immediately send an email to the Docket Correction email address for
your Judge with the case number, docket number and a very brief description
of what went wrong. If possible, mark the message "urgent."

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3.
Next, file a "Motion to Remove Incorrectly Filed Document" as soon as
possible. If the motion is granted, the ECF Helpdesk will permanently remove
the document from ECF.

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For the Northern District of California

United States District Court

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2.
Next, call us at 866-638-7829 to request expedited handling. The ECF
HelpDesk staff can, during regular support hours, temporarily block access to
the document by ECF users for a limited period of time. The Court does not,
however, provide any after-hours support.

4.
E-file a corrected version of the document. You can do this right away,
without awaiting the outcome of steps 1-3, above. View information on
redacting documents for e-filing on this website.

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Here, plaintiff's counsel (which had requested that the stipulation and order be

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locked) complied with steps 1 and 2, but failed to comply with steps 3 and 4. The court has

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contacted plaintiff's counsel several times, beginning on April 10, 2015, requesting that

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counsel file a motion to remove the e-filed documents and resubmit the stipulation to the

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court, in accordance with the instructions on the website. To date, counsel has failed to

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comply.

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Accordingly, the court ORDERS that no later than 12:00 noon on Wednesday, May

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20, 2015, plaintiff's counsel shall file a motion to remove the incorrectly filed documents,

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and shall e-file a corrected version of the stipulation, following the instructions under "How

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to E-File a Corrected Version." Failure to comply with this order will result in the court's

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unlocking the temporarily locked documents.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.

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Dated: May 15, 2015
______________________________
PHYLLIS J. HAMILTON
United States District Judge

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