Garcia De Len v. New York University

Filing 90

ORDER denying 57 Letter Motion to Seal NO. Far too broad a request.. (Signed by Judge Colleen McMahon on 5/9/2022) (kv)

Case 1:21-cv-05005-CM-SDA Document 57 Filed 05/06/22 Page 1 of 2
90 Filed 05/09/22 Page
DLA Piper LLP (US)
1251 Avenue of the Americas
27th Floor
New York, New York 10020-1104
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Keara M. Gordon
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May 6, 2022
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The Honorable Colleen McMahon, U.S.D.J.
U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse
500 Pearl St., Room 2550
New York, NY 10007-1312
Re:

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Garcia De Leon v. New York University, Case No. 1:.21-cv-5005-CM
Request to File Under Seal
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We represent defendant New York University ("NYU") in the above referenced matter.
Pursuant to Section 6 of the Southern District of New York's Electronic Case Filing Rules &
Instructions, NYU seeks permission to file its opposition to the laintiff s Motion for Class
Certification and Appomtmen o
ass e
eutative aRd Class Counsel under seal, along wit
rcertain of the accompanying declarations and exhibits. NYU will also publicly file a redacted
vers ion of these documents , with all information that the parties agree is non-confidential
unredacted.
The reason for this request is that the motion papers and certain of the accompanying
declarations and exhibits thereto contain: ( 1) the plaintiffs personal identifying information
contained in NYU's records; (2) the plaintiffs protected health information; and/or (3) sensitive
commercial information subject to designation as Confidential under the Confidentiality
Agreement and Stipulated Protective Order (Dkt. No. 38). While NYU recognizes that there is a
"strong and well-established presumption of public access to judicial documents and proceedings,"
the public's right of access is not absolute. Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga , 435 F.3d 110,
119-20, 124 (2d Cir. 2006); see also In re New York Times Co., 828 F.2d 110, 116 (2d Cir. 1987).
All three categories of information listed above are appropriate for sealing.
First, courts have found "clear and compelling reasons to seal" documents that contain
certain educational and student personal information protected by the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act ("FERPA"). See, e.g., Sweeney v. Enfield Bd. of Educ., 2016 WL 4435331, at
* 10 (D. Conn. Aug. 18 , 2016) (sealing documents containing confidential educational information
protected by FERPA); Chapman v. Ouellette, 200 F. Supp. 3d 303,311 (D. Conn . 2016) (same).

Case 1:21-cv-05005-CM-SDA Document 57 Filed 05/06/22 Page 2 of 2
Case 1:21-cv-05005-CM-SDA Document 90 Filed 05/09/22 Page 2 of 2

The Honorable Co lleen McMahon
May 6, 2022
Page Two

Second, courts have found it appropriate to seal medical records and the information
contained therein, including health information protected from disclosure by the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act ("HIP AA"), which "covers, among other things, past, present,
or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual; the provision of health care to an
individual; or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual."
Valentini v. Grp. Health Inc., 2020 WL 7646892, at *2 (S .D.N.Y. Dec. 23 , 2020) (quotation
omitted) (granting motion to seal plaintiff s health records on the basis "that Plaintiffs' privacy
interests and Defendants' legal obligations [under HIP AA] outweigh the presumption of public
access").
Finally, an entity's confidential "commercial information" likewise has been recognized
as a proper subject for sealing. See Louis Vuitton Malletier SA. v. Sunny Merch. Corp., 97 F.
Supp. 3d 485, 511 (S.D .N .Y. 2015) (redactions of "confidential business information," including
"internal business documents," "investigative reports," and "information about [ ] business
operations" held "justified").
Disclosure of the confidential infom1ation described above would be harmful to the parties
by, among other things , causing them to di sclose non-public, commercially sensitive, and/or
private information.
The plaintiffs counsel has consented to this request.
NYU respectfully requests that the Court grant this request to file the above-mentioned
documents under seal. Thank you in advance for your consideration.
Respectfully submitted,

Isl Keara M. Gordon
Keara M. Gordon
cc : All Counsel of Record