Brown v. Google LLC

Opinion

1 2 3 6 7 CHASOM BROWN, et al., Case No. 20-cv-03664-LHK (SVK)

8 Plaintiffs, ORDER ON ADMINISTRATIVE 9 v. MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL

10 GOOGLE LLC, Re: Dkt. No. 295 11 Defendant.

12 Before the Court is Google’s administrative motion to file under seal portions of the 13 Parties’ joint letter brief regarding their privilege log dispute. Dkt. No. 295. 14 Courts recognize a “general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, 15 including judicial records and documents.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. Of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 16 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Communs., Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 & n.7 17 (1978)). A request to seal court records therefore starts with a “strong presumption in favor of 18 access.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178 (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 19 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). The standard for overcoming the presumption of public access to court records depends on the purpose for which the records are filed with the court. A party 20 seeking to seal court records relating to motions that are “more than tangentially related to the 21 underlying cause of action” must demonstrate “compelling reasons” that support secrecy. Ctr. For 22 Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016). For records attached to 23 motions that re “not related, or only tangentially related, to the merits of the case,” the lower 24 “good cause” standard of Rule 26(c) applies. Id.; see also Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. A party 25 moving to seal court records must also comply with the procedures established by Civil Local 26 Rule 79-5. 27 1 Here, the “good cause” standard applies because the information the parties seek to seal 2 was submitted to the Court in connection with a discovery-related motion, rather than a motion 3 that concerns the merits of the case. The Court may reach different conclusions regarding sealing 4 these documents under different standards or in a different context. Having considered the motion 5 to seal, supporting declaration, and the pleadings on file, and good cause appearing, the Court 6 ORDERS as follows: 7 Court’s Ruling 8 on Motion to Reason(s) for Court’s Ruling Sealed Seal 9 Joint Submission GRANTED as to Narrowly tailored to protect redacted portions at | confidential and proprietary 10 . . . , pages 3, 4 information regarding Google’s 11 internal systems and operations, including details related to internal a identifiers and projects, that Google maintains as confidential in the 13 ordinary course of its business and 14 is not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. SO ORDERED.

a 16 Dated: October 27, 2021

= 17 S □□□ f Z 18 19 SUSAN VAN KEULEN United States Magistrate Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28