Brooks v. Seattle Housing Authority

Filing 66

MINUTE ORDER denying non-party L.B.'s 65 MOTION to Redact. The Clerk is directed to unseal Document # 65 . Authorized by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (PM) cc: non-party L.B. and plaintiff via first class mail

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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MARGARET T. BROOKS,

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Plaintiff,

ORDER

v.

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CASE NO. C12-0878-JCC

SEATTLE HOUSING AUTHORITY,

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Defendant.

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This matter comes before the Court on non-party L.B.’s 1 ex parte, sealed motion to redact

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(Dkt. No. 65). L.B. requests that the Court order that her name be redacted from all documents

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associated with this case. (Id.)

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Plaintiff Margaret Brooks (“Brooks”) brought this lawsuit in 2012 against Defendant

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Seattle Housing Authority (“SHA”) under the federal Fair Housing Act, alleging that she was

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discriminated against based on her race and disability. (Dkt. No. 21 at 1.) L.B. was an employee

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of SHA and managed the apartment building where Brooks lived. (Dkt. No. 47 at 5–6.) As a

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result of her employment and interactions with Brooks, L.B. became involved in this lawsuit

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against SHA. (See generally Dkt. Nos. 46, 47.)

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L.B. provided a sworn declaration in support of SHA’s motion for summary judgment

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As a courtesy, the Court refers to the moving party by her initials “L.B.” in this order
because she has expressed a desire to maintain her privacy.
ORDER
C12-0878-JCC
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that refuted many of Brooks’ claims against SHA. (Compare Dkt. No. 47 at 5–9, with Dkt. No.

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21.) L.B. is referenced by name in SHA’s motion for summary judgment and reply brief. (Dkt.

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No. 46 and 51.) On June 15, 2015, the Court conducted a bench trial and ruled that SHA did not

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violate the Fair Housing Act. (Dkt. No. 61 at 4.)

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More than two years after disposition, L.B. moves the Court to redact her name from all

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documents filed in the case. (Dkt. No. 65.) L.B. asserts that “[w]hile [she] was a party of interest,

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there are negative consequences with her name being associated with this discrimination case

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that are disproportionate to her role and note of legitimate concern to the public.” (Id.) Neither

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party has responded to L.B.’s motion.

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At the outset, the Court notes that L.B., as a non-party, is not necessarily entitled to the

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relief requested in her motion. Neither the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure nor Local Civil

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Rules provide a non-party such as L.B. with a right to obtain a protective order. See Fed. R. Civ.

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P. 26(c)(1) (“A party or any person from whom discovery is sought may move for a protective

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order in the court where the action is pending . . . .”); Local Civ. R. 26(c)(2) (“Parties may file a

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stipulated protective order to protect confidential, proprietary, or private information that

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warrants special protection.) Nor has L.B. filed a motion to intervene in the case that would

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allow her to seek redactions of the judicial record. See, e.g., Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int'l Ins. Co.,

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966 F.2d 470, 473 (9th Cir. 1992) (holding that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b) allows

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intervention for the limited purpose of retroactively challenging or modifying a protective order.)

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Even if L.B. properly intervened in this case, however, the Court would not grant her

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motion to redact. There is a presumption of public access to judicial records and documents.

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Nixon v. Warner Commc'ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978). In light of this, the Ninth Circuit has

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held that there must be “compelling reasons” to seal judicial records attached to a dispositive

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motion. Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006). “A litigant

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who might be embarrassed, incriminated, or exposed to litigation through dissemination of

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materials is not, without more, entitled to the court's protection . . . .” Foltz v. State Farm Mut.
ORDER
C12-0878-JCC
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Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1136 (9th Cir. 2003) (citation omitted).
L.B. has not demonstrated a compelling reason for redacting her name from the judicial

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record. L.B. expresses a general concern with privacy in support of her motion but does not

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articulate specific reasons why her identity should be confidential. (Dkt. No. 65.) Nor is L.B.

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trying to redact confidential personal information such as a social security number, telephone

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number, or address. Moreover, the parties never sought a protective order in this case or made

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efforts to protect the identities of those involved. Courts have required a heightened showing in

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order to allow litigants to proceed anonymously. See, e.g., United States v. Doe, 488 F.3d 1154,

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1156 n. 1 (9th Cir.2007) (“the identity of the parties in any action, civil or criminal, should not be

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concealed except in an unusual case, where there is a need for the cloak of anonymity.”) Tarutis

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v. Spectrum Brands, Inc., No. C13-0761-JLR, slip op. at 4 (W.D. Wash. Nov. 7, 2014) (denying

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a defendant’s request to retroactively remove his name from all publicly-available court files.)

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Here, L.B. provided a nine-page sworn declaration in support of SHA’s motion for

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summary judgment. (Dkt. No. 47.) Her declaration was the only testimonial evidence that SHA

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relied on for its summary judgment motion. (Dkt. Nos. 47, 58, 60.) Accordingly, there is a strong

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public policy interest that her identity, as it relates to these court filings, remain available to the

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public. L.B. has not provided a compelling reason that would lead the Court to rule otherwise.

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For the foregoing reasons, non-party L.B.’s ex parte motion to redact (Dkt. No. 65)

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is DENIED. The Clerk is DIRECTED to unseal Docket Number 65. The Clerk is further

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DIRECTED to mail a copy of this order to L.B. at the address provided in her motion.

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DATED this 11th day of December 2017.

A

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John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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ORDER
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