Khan v. Colvin

Filing 16

ORDER granting 15 Motion to Seal. Signed by Magistrate Judge Peggy A. Leen on 12/9/13. (Copies have been distributed pursuant to the NEF - MMM)

1 DANIEL G. BOGDEN
United States Attorney
2 BLAINE T. WELSH
Assistant United States Attorney
3 Nevada State Bar No. 4790
333 South Las Vegas Blvd. Suite 5000
4 Las Vegas, NV 89101
Ph: [phone]
5 Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
6 Attorneys for the United States
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEVADA

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KHALID HASAN KHAN,

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Plaintiff,

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v.

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CAROLYN W. COLVIN 1,
Acting Commissioner of Social Security,

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Defendant.
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Case No: 2:13-cv-01173-GMN-PAL

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO SEAL
DECLARATION OF GLENN HAAS AND
ALL DOCUMENTS APPENDED TO IT

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I.

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INTRODUCTION

Pursuant to LR 10-5, Defendant respectfully requests that the Court seal the declaration of

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19 Glenn Haas and all documents attached to it. The Haas declaration and appended documents are
20 attached as an Exhibit to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss that is being filed concurrently with this
21 Motion to Seal. This case involves allegations that the Social Security Administration (SSA) made
22 incorrect decisions about Plaintiff’s age and entitlement to age related benefits. In most cases seeking
23 review of benefit decisions made by the SSA, this Court limits access to the file to the Plaintiff and
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Carolyn W. Colvin became the Acting Commissioner of Social Security on February 14, 2013.
Pursuant to Rule 25(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Carolyn W. Colvin should be
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substituted for Michael J. Astrue as the defendant in this suit. No further action need be taken to
26 continue this suit by reason of the last sentence of section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C.
§ 405(g).

1 any counsel for the SSA. This is done to avoid the heavy redaction and multiple filings that would
2 otherwise be necessary to redact sensitive information from the documents submitted to the court
3 because these cases deals extensively with personally identifiable information, medical records,
4 financial data and other sensitive data. In this case, however, the court did not limit access to this file
5 and the documents filed in it are all accessible to the public.
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Defendant is uncertain why access was not limited but it may be due to the fact that Plaintiff

7 claimed jurisdiction under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 702 et seq.
8 (complaint at 1:17-19, 22-26,) rather than section 405(g) of the Social Security Act (“Act”), 42
9 U.S.C. § 405(g)-(h).
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Regardless of the reason, however, this case does not have the normal limited access

11 restriction, and the Haas Declaration and attachments to it contains sensitive information that should
12 not be subject to public view, including personally identifiable information and financial data.
13 Further, redaction of the sensitive information is not practicable without considerable difficulty and
14 the risk that the meaning of some of the documents may be obscured.
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For these reasons, Defendant respectfully requests that the Declaration of Glenn Haas attached

16 to the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss and all documents appended to the Haas Declaration be sealed.
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Respectfully submitted this 27th day of November 2013.

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DANIEL G. BOGDEN
United States Attorney

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/s/ Blaine T. Welsh
BLAINE T. WELSH
Assistant United States Attorney

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22 OF COUNSEL:

IT IS SO ORDERED this 9th day of
December 2013.

23 DONNA L. CALVERT
Acting Regional Chief Counsel
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ELLINOR R. CODER
25 Assistant Regional Counsel
Social Security Administration
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_______________________________
Peggy A. Leen
United States Magistrate Judge

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