Doe v. Delta Airlines, Inc.

310 F.R.D. 222, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134911, 2015 WL 5781215
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided October 2, 2015·No. No. 13 Civ. 6287(PAE)·Published·Cited by 29 cases

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

PAUL A. ENGELMAYER, District Judge:

On September 6, 2018, plaintiff Jane Doe brought claims of battery, defamation, false arrest, malicious prosecution, and negligence against defendant Delta Airlines, Inc. (“Delta”), arising out of events that occurred during a flight delay and resulted in her arrest for public intoxication. Dkt. 1. The same day, the Court granted Doe’s ex parte motion for leave to file her Complaint under a pseudonym. Dkt. 2.

On September 10, 2015, the Court issued an Opinion and Order, granting Delta summary judgment on all of Doe’s claims, save for her battery claim, which is now proceeding to trial. Dkt. 130. The Court issued a separate order, directing Doe to submit a letter by September 17, 2015, stating whether she sought to proceed pseudonymously at trial, and if so, concretely, her basis and the legal authority for this request. Dkt. 131. Delta was directed to respond by September 22, 2015.

The Court has received both parties’ letters. Dkt. 132, 134. Doe asks to be permitted to proceed pseudonymously. Dkt. 132. She argues that she is a professional (a practicing attorney) whose reputation and finances may be harmed by disclosure of her arrest for public drunkenness; that there is little public interest in her identity; and that Delta, which knows her identity, will not be prejudiced if she proceeds pseudonymously. Id. at 1-3 Doe also asks that, if the Court denies her request, she be given 72 hours to decide whether to continue to pursue the remaining battery claim. Id. at 3. Delta counters that there is a public interest in the scrutiny of judicial proceedings; that allowing Doe to proceed pseudonymously may unfairly give her claims added credence before the jury; and that Doe should not be permitted to make what Delta regards as specious claims against Delta without being accountable for them. Dkt. 134, at 1-4.

[224]*224Under Rule 10(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must “name all the parties.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 10(a). “This requirement, though seemingly pedestrian, serves the vital purpose of facilitating public scrutiny of judicial proceedings and therefore cannot be set aside lightly.” Sealed Plaintiff v. Sealed Defendant, 537 F.3d 185, 188-89 (2d Cir.2008). The use of pseudonyms “runs afoul of the public’s common law right of access to judicial proceedings, a right that is supported by the First Amendment.” Doe v. Del Rio, 241 F.R.D. 154, 156 (S.D.N.Y.2006) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). However, “[i]t is within a court’s discretion to allow a plaintiff to proceed anonymously,” Doe v. Shakur, 164 F.R.D. 359, 360 (S.D.N.Y.1996) (collecting cases), and courts in this Circuit have “carved out a limited number of exceptions to the general requirement of disclosure [of the names of parties], which permit plaintiffs to proceed anonymously,” Sealed Plaintiff, 537 F.3d at 189 (alteration in original) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

“The central inquiry in determining whether a plaintiff may proceed pseudony-mously is a balancing of a ‘plaintiffs interest in anonymity ... against both the public interest in disclosure and any prejudice to the defendant.’ ” Michael v. Bloomberg L.P., No. 14 Civ. 2657(TPG), 2015 WL 585592, at *3 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 11, 2015) (quoting Sealed Plaintiff, 537 F.3d at 189). The Second Circuit has identified the following non-exhaustive list of factors for district courts to consider in balancing those interests:

(1) whether the litigation involves matters that are highly sensitive and [of a] personal nature; (2) whether identification poses a risk of retaliatory physical or mental harm to the party [seeking to proceed anonymously] or even more critically, to innocent non-parties; (3) whether identification presents other harms and the likely severity of those harms, including whether the injury litigated against would be incurred as a result of the disclosure of the plaintiffs identify; (4) whether the plaintiff is particularly vulnerable to the possible harms of disclosure, particularly in light of his age; (5) whether the suit is challenging the actions of the government or that of private parties; (6) whether the defendant is prejudiced by allowing the plaintiff to press his claims anonymously, whether the nature of that prejudice (if any) differs at any particular stage of the litigation, and whether any prejudice can be mitigated by the district court; (7) whether the plaintiffs identity has thus far been kept confidential; (8) whether the public’s interest in the litigation is furthered by the plaintiff to disclose his identity; (9) whether, because of the purely legal nature of the issues presented or otherwise, there is an atypically weak public interest in knowing the litigants’ identities; and (10) whether there are any alternative mechanisms for protecting the confidentiality of the plaintiff.

Sealed Plaintiff, 537 F.3d at 190 (alteration in original) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted).

The Court’s considered view is that, with the ease now headed to trial, the key factors here favor disclosure of Doe’s name, not permitting her to proceed pseudony-mously.

As to the public interest: Doe argues that because this case is now solely a battery claim involving her and a Delta employee, there is little public interest. Dkt. 132, at 1. But, inherently, as then-District Judge Lynch has recognized:

There is a significant interest in open judicial proceedings even in ordinary civil litigation between private parties. Private civil suits, individually and certainly in the aggregate, do not only advance the parties’ private interests, but also further the public’s interest in enforcing legal and social norms. Further, where individual defendants are sued based not on abstract challenges to public policies but rather with regard to particular actions and incidents, open proceedings nevertheless benefit the public as well as the parties and also serve the judicial interest in accurate fact-finding and fair adjudication.

Del Rio, 241 F.R.D. at 159.

As to prejudice to Delta: Doe argues that Delta will not suffer prejudice because, [225]*225during pretrial proceedings, it has not been “hampered in [its] discovery requests” and, until the Court’s recent order, had not moved to bar Doe from proceeding pseudonymously. Dkt. 132, at 2. A different balance of interests, however, comes into play at the trial phase, because a jury will now be called upon to resolve critical issues of credibility. Delta’s view of the facts is that Doe was inebriated at the airport during the events in question, that Delta justifiably kept Doe off its flight, that Doe was validly arrested after airport officials drew her conduct to the attention of the police, and that Doe is using her claim of battery to strike out at Delta for an embarrassing incident for which Doe properly bears responsibility. Delta’s concern is that allowing Doe to remain anonymous at trial would shield her from accountability before the jury for making meritless claims. The ease law recognizes a defendant’s interest in confronting an identified accuser.

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Doe v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 310 F.R.D. 222, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 134911, 2015 WL 5781215 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

310 F.R.D. 222 (Doe v. Delta Airlines, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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