McGhee v. North American Bancard, LLC

Filing 97

ORDER Granting Plaintiff's Motion to Seal Selected Portions of Documents in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification Pursuant to L.R. 79.2 and Protective Order [Doc. No. 85 ]. Signed by Judge Anthony J. Battaglia on 12/1/2020. (anh)

Case 3:17-cv-00586-AJB-KSC Document 97 Filed 12/01/20 PageID.1859 Page 1 of 2

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

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SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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GERALD MCGHEE, an individual, on
behalf of himself and all others similarly
situated,
Plaintiff,

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v.

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NORTH AMERICAN BANCARD, LLC,
Defendant.

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Case No.: 17-cv-00586-AJB-KSC
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S
MOTION TO SEAL SELECT
PORTIONS OF DOCUMENTS IN
SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S MOTION
FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION
PURSUANT TO L.R. 79.2 AND
PROTECTIVE ORDER

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(Doc. No. 85)

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Pending before the Court is Plaintiff’s motion to file under seal portions of various

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documents in support of his motion for class certification. (Doc. No. 85.) The portions of

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these documents contain information designated by Defendants as “CONFIDENTIAL”

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under the terms of the Protective Order in this action, (Doc No. 67). Defendant has not

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opposed the motion. Good cause and compelling reasons appearing, the Court GRANTS

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the motion to seal.

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In the Ninth Circuit, courts are split on whether the “good cause” or “compelling

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reasons” standard applies to sealed documents in the class certification context. Compare

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Ramirez v. GEO Grp., No. 3:18-cv-02136-LAB-MSB, 2019 WL 6782920, at *3 (S.D. Cal.
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17-cv-00586-AJB-KSC

Case 3:17-cv-00586-AJB-KSC Document 97 Filed 12/01/20 PageID.1860 Page 2 of 2

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Dec. 11, 2019) (“The vast majority of courts within this circuit treat motions for class

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certification as non-dispositive motions to which the good cause sealing standard applies.”)

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(internal quotation marks omitted) with Yan Mei Zheng v. Toyota Motor Corp., No. 5:17-

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cv-06591-BLF, 2019 WL 6841324, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 16, 2019) (“This Court follows

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numerous other district courts within the Ninth Circuit in concluding that the compelling

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reasons standard applies to motions to seal documents relating to class certification.”). The

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documents Plaintiff here seeks to seal contain sensitive proprietary information. (Doc. No.

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85-1 at 4–5.) The Court need not resolve whether the good cause or compelling reasons

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standard applies because under either standard, sealing of these documents is appropriate.

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See Yan Mei Zheng-Lawson v. Toyota Motor Corp., No. 17-CV-06591-BLF, 2019 WL

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3413253, at *2 (N.D. Cal. July 29, 2019) (sealing sensitive proprietary information);

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Nichols v. GEICO Gen. Ins. Co., No. 2:18-CV-01253-RAJ, 2020 WL 5105442, at *2 (W.D.

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Wash. Aug. 31, 2020) (sealing proprietary competitive information under either the good

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cause or the compelling reasons standard).

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As such, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff’s motion to seal Exhibits 4, 5, 9, and 10.

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IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: December 1, 2020

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17-cv-00586-AJB-KSC