Meeker et al v. Starfish Children's Services et al

Filing 84

ORDER granting parties' 79 Stipulated Motion to Seal. The Clerk is DIRECTED to maintain Docket Number 80 under seal. Signed by U.S. District Judge John C Coughenour. (TH)

THE HONORABLE JOHN C. COUGHENOUR

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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ROBERT MEEKER, et al.,

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Plaintiffs,

CASE NO. C17-0376-JCC
ORDER

v.
STARFISH CHILDREN’S SERVICES, et al.,

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Defendants.

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This matter comes before the Court on the parties’ stipulated motion to seal (Dkt. No.
79). The Court hereby GRANTS the motion for the reasons explained herein.
The Court starts from the position that “[t]here is a strong presumption of public access to

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[its] files.” W.D. Wash. Local Civ. R. 5(g). This presumption applies particularly to “dispositive

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pleadings.” Kamakana v. City and Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006); see

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also M.F. v. United States, Case No. C13-1790-JLR, Dkt. No. 18 at 4 (W.D. Wash. 2013)

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(finding that a motion to approve a minor settlement agreement is a dispositive pleading). To

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overcome this presumption, there must be a “compelling reason” for sealing that is “sufficient to

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outweigh the public’s interest in disclosure.” Id.

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The parties have a compelling reason to redact the monetary amount of their settlement

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agreement—both parties want the monetary amount to remain private and this is a purely private

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dispute. (See Dkt. No. 79.) Plaintiff wishes to maintain the confidentiality of the monetary
ORDER
C17-0376-JCC
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amount to avoid unwanted attention, and Defendants seek to maintain confidentiality to

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discourage copycat litigants. (Id. at 4.) Most importantly, the settlement agreement is already

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publicly available, with the exception of the monetary amount, which is redacted. (Dkt. No. 78-

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1.) Therefore, the Court finds that there is compelling reason to seal the settlement agreement

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that outweighs the public’s interest in its full disclosure.

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Therefore, the parties’ motion to seal (Dkt. No. 79) is GRANTED. The Clerk is
DIRECTED to maintain Docket Number 80 under seal.
DATED this 18th day of July 2019.

A

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John C. Coughenour
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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ORDER
C17-0376-JCC
PAGE - 2