Abelar v. International Business Machines Corp.

Filing 25

ORDER terminating 11 Letter Motion to Seal. By November 30, 2021, Defendant shall file a letter motion making a case for filing the referenced documents in redacted form. If Defendant's case is insufficient, I will enter an order denying the request and directing Plaintiff to file the referenced documents in unredacted form. SO ORDERED. (Signed by Judge Vernon S. Broderick on 11/22/2021) (vfr)

L I C H T E N & L I S S - R I O R D A N , P. C.
HAROLD L. LICHTEN×
SHANNON LISS-RIORDAN×
SARAH SCHALMAN-BERGEN
MATTHEW W. THOMSON×
ADELAIDE H. PAGANO×

_______________________________________

FOWLER×

THOMAS P.
OLENA SAVYTSKA×
ANNE KRAMER×
MICHELLE CASSORLA×^
ZACHARY RUBIN× ^
ANASTASIA DOHERTY×
TARA BOGHOSIAN×
MATTHEW PATTON×
KRYSTEN CONNON^
BENJAMIN J. WEBER× OF COUNSEL

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

729 BOYLSTON STREET, SUITE 2000
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02116
_______________________________

TELEPHONE [phone]
FACSIMILE 617-994-5801

RE:

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× ADMITTED IN MASSACHUSETTS
ADMITTED IN CALIFORNIA
ADMITTED IN NEW YORK
ADMITTED IN PENNSYLVANIA
^ ADMITTED IN NEW JERSEY
ADMITTED IN CONNECTICUT
ADMITTED IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

ADMITTED IN TENNESSEE

November 17, 2021
VIA CM/ECF
The Honorable Vernon S. Broderick
United States District Court
Southern District of New York
40 Foley Square, Room 415
New York, NY 10007

WWW.LLRLAW.COM

By November 30, 2021, Defendant shall file a
letter motion making a case for filing the
referenced documents in redacted form. If
Defendant’s case is insufficient, I will enter an
order denying the request and directing
Plaintiff to file the referenced documents in
unredacted form.
11/22/2021

Abelar v. International Business Machines Corp., C.A. No. 1:21-cv-06307

Dear Judge Broderick:
I represent Plaintiff in the above-referenced matter. Pursuant to Section 5(B)(ii) of
Your Honor’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases, Plaintiff seeks permission to
file his Motion for Summary Judgment preliminarily under seal, along with the
accompanying Declaration of Shannon Liss-Riordan and exhibits. Plaintiff will also
publicly file a redacted version of these documents, with all information that the parties
agree is non-confidential unredacted.
The reason for this request is that Defendant IBM contends that these
documents contain information that falls under the scope of the confidentiality
agreement contained within IBM’s arbitration agreement (see Exhibit 2 to Liss-Riordan
Decl.), which is the subject of Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment. As explained
extensively in the Motion for Summary Judgment, Plaintiff does not believe that IBM’s
confidentiality provision in its arbitration agreement should be enforced.
In any event, Plaintiff believes that these documents should be publicly filed,
given that Your Honor’s Individual Practice 5(B)(ii) states that “the parties’ consent or
the fact that information is subject to a confidentiality agreement between litigants is not,
by itself, a valid basis to overcome the presumption in favor of public access to judicial
government.” (citing In re Gen. Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litig., No. 14-MD-2543
(JMF), 2015 WL 4750774, at *4 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2015).

L I C H T E N & L I S S - R I O R D A N , P. C.
Nevertheless, until IBM has had the opportunity to respond to Plaintiff’s argument
that these documents should be filed publicly, Plaintiff requests that these documents
be preliminarily permitted to be filed under seal, with redacted versions filed publicly (for
which the portions of the papers that IBM concedes are not confidential will not be
redacted).
Plaintiff requests further that Your Honor, pursuant to Individual Practice 5(B)(iii),
order IBM to submit a letter within three (3) business days explaining its position on why
the redacted information should remain out of public view.

Sincerely,
/s/ Shannon Liss-Riordan
Shannon Liss-Riordan
Attorney for Plaintiff

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on November 17, 2021, a true and accurate copy of the
foregoing document was filed via this Court’s CM/ECF system.
/s/ Shannon Liss-Riordan
Shannon Liss-Riordan

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