Central Freight Lines, Inc. v. Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc., et al

Filing 251

ORDER granting Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc.'s 221 First Motion to Seal; granting Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc.'s 226 Second Motion to Seal. Signed by Judge James L. Robart. (SWT)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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CENTRAL FREIGHT LINES, INC.,

ORDER GRANTING MOTIONS
TO SEAL

Plaintiff,

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CASE NO. C17-0814JLR

v.
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AMAZON FULFILLMENT
SERVICES, et al.,

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Defendants.

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I.

INTRODUCTION

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Before the court are: (1) Defendant Amazon Fulfillment Services’s (“AFS”)
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motion to seal documents related to its motion for reconsideration of the court’s summary
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judgment order (1st MTS (Dkt. # 221)), and (2) AFS’s motion to seal documents related
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to its opposition to Plaintiff Central Freight Lines, Inc.’s (“CFL”) motions in limine (2nd
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MTS (Dkt. # 226)). Both motions are unopposed. (See generally Dkt.; see also 1st MTS
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at 2; 2nd MTS at 2.) The court has considered the motions, the parties’ submissions
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ORDER - 1

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concerning the motions, the relevant portions of the record, and the applicable law.

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Being fully advised, 1 the court GRANTS both motions.

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II.

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BACKGROUND

The court has detailed this case’s factual and procedural background in several

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prior orders. (See, e.g., 7/10/17 Order (Dkt. # 47) at 2-4; 11/07/17 Order (Dkt. # 57) at

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2-6; 3/11/19 Order (Dkt. # 135) at 2-4.) Thus, in this order, the court recounts only the

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facts and procedural history salient to the instant motions.

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This case arises from a contract dispute between CFL, a freight carrier, and AFS.
(See generally FAC (Dkt. # 139).) CFL provided shipping services to AFS pursuant to a

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Transportation Agreement (“the Agreement”) executed on July 7, 2011. (Id. ¶¶ 13-14,

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Ex. A (“Agreement”).) In mid-2016, AFS audited CFL’s services and concluded that it

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had overpaid CFL under the Agreement. (FAC ¶¶ 17-20; see id., Ex. B (“Demand

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Letter”).) CFL disputes AFS’s contentions, arguing that its billing was consistent with

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the parties’ oral modification to the Agreement and that AFS improperly attempted to

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“claw back” money from CFL. (See id. ¶¶ 3-5.)

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On August 12, 2019, the parties filed motions in limine. (See CFL MILs (Dkt.

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# 216); AFS MILs (Dkt. # 217).) On August 14, 2019 AFS filed a motion for partial

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reconsideration of the court’s summary judgment order. (See MFR (Dkt. ## 222

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Neither party requests oral argument on the motions (see 1st MTS at 1; 2nd MTS at 1),
and the court concludes that oral argument would not be helpful to its disposition of the motions,
see Local Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 7(b)(4).
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(redacted), 223 (sealed)); MSJ Order (Dkt. ## 214 (sealed), 220 (redacted)).) AFS now

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seeks to seal certain documents related to those filings.

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III.
A.

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ANALYSIS

Legal Standard
When deciding a motion to seal, courts “start with a strong presumption in favor

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of access to court records.” Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135

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(9th Cir. 2003) (citing Hagestad v. Tragesser, 49 F.3d 1430, 1434 (9th Cir. 1995)). This

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presumption, however, “is not absolute and can be overridden given sufficiently

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compelling reasons for doing so.” Id. (citing San Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. Dist.

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Ct. N. Dist. (San Jose), 187 F.3d 1096, 1102 (9th Cir. 1999)). The standard for

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determining whether to seal a record depends on the filing that the sealed record is

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attached to. See id. at 1136-37. Because the sealed documents at issue here are attached

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to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the merits of [this] case,” the court

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applies the compelling reasons standard to determine if sealing is appropriate. See Ctr.

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for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 1092, 1098-102 (9th Cir. 2016).

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Under the compelling reasons standard, the party seeking to seal a judicial record

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bears the burden of showing that “compelling reasons supported by specific factual

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findings . . . outweigh the general history of access and the public policies favoring

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disclosure.” Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir.

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2006) (internal citations omitted). A failure to meet that burden means that the record

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will be filed in public. Id. at 1182. If a court decides to seal a record, it must “base its

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decision on a compelling reason and articulate the factual basis for its ruling.” Id. at 1179

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(quoting Hagestad, 49 F.3d at 1434).

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“In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in

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disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such ‘court files might have

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become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ such as the use of records to . . . release trade

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secrets.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435

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U.S. 589, 598 (1978)). The final determination of what constitutes a compelling reason is

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“best left to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Nixon, 435 U.S. at 599.

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In addition, in the Western District of Washington, parties seeking to file

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documents under seal must follow the procedure laid out in Local Rule 5(g). See Local

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Rules W.D. Wash. LCR 5(g). Pursuant to Local Rule 5(g), a party filing a motion to seal

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must include “a certification that the party has met and conferred with all other parties in

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an attempt to reach agreement on the need to file the document[s] under seal.” Id. LCR

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5(g)(3)(A). The party seeking to seal the documents must also explain the bases for

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requiring the relief. Id. LCR 5(g)(3)(B).

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B.

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First Motion to Seal
AFS moves to seal certain portions of its motion for reconsideration of the court’s

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summary judgment order. (See 1st MTS at 2 (citing MFR, MSJ Order).) AFS’s motion

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for reconsideration refers to and relies on materials that the court previously concluded

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“the parties have articulated compelling reasons to redact or seal.” (See 7/15/2019 Order

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(Dkt. # 204) at 5 (“The material that AFS designated as confidential relates to, or

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contains information about, settlement negotiations, specific pricing terms between the

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parties, sensitive third-party information, and confidential business details relating to

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AFS’s internal processes and procedures.”).) Therefore, the court grants AFS’s first

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motion to seal (Dkt. # 221) for the reasons set forth in the court’s prior order to allow

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sealing and redaction of the same materials. (See 7/15/2019 Order at 5.)

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C.

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Second Motion to Seal
AFS moves to seal “page 22, line 7 through page 223, line 24 of the deposition of

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Ankush Khandelwal, and page 168, line 23 through [page] 172, line 11 of the FRCP

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30(b)(6) deposition of Brett Beavers.” (See Beavers Decl. (Dkt. # 227) ¶ 3 (citing Sealed

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Declarations (Dkt. # 232) (sealed)).) AFS filed these declarations in support of its

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opposition to CFL’s motions in limine. (See MIL Resp. (Dkt. ## 228 (redacted), 229

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(sealed).) AFS argues that compelling reasons exist to seal these materials because they

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describe AFS’s “internal process and procedures that, if public[ly] disclosed, could be

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exploited by other carriers.” (See 2nd MTS at 4; Beavers Decl. ¶¶ 3-5.)

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The court agrees. The material that AFS designated as confidential relates to

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confidential business details relating to AFS’s internal processes and procedures, and

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disclosure of that material could result in improper use by business competitors and

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others seeking to exploit AFS’s auditing processes. Therefore, the court GRANTS AFS’s

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second motion to seal (Dkt. # 226).

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IV.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, the court GRANTS AFS’s first motion to seal (Dkt.
# 221) and GRANTS AFS’s second motion to seal (Dkt. # 226).
Dated this 11th day of October, 2019.

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A

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JAMES L. ROBART
United States District Judge

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ORDER - 6