Hyams v. CVS Health Corporation

• Court: District Court, N.D. California
• Decided: March 18, 2021
• Docket: 4:18-cv-06278
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 RYAN HYAMS, et al., Case No. 18-cv-06278-HSG

8 Plaintiffs, ORDER DENYING ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO SEAL 9 v. Re: Dkt. No. 102 10 CVS HEALTH CORPORATION, et al., 11 Defendants.

12 13 Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs’ administrative motion to file documents under seal. 14 Dkt. No. 102. For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES the motion. 15 I. LEGAL STANDARD 16 Courts generally apply a “compelling reasons” standard when considering motions to seal 17 documents. Pintos v. Pac. Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 678 (9th Cir. 2010) (quoting Kamakana 18 v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006)). “This standard derives from the 19 common law right ‘to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial records 20 and documents.’” Id. (quoting Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178). “[A] strong presumption in favor of 21 access is the starting point.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178 (quotations omitted). To overcome this 22 strong presumption, the party seeking to seal a judicial record attached to a dispositive motion 23 must “articulate compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings that outweigh the 24 general history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure, such as the public interest in 25 understanding the judicial process” and “significant public events.” Id. at 1178–79 (quotations 26 omitted). “In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to outweigh the public’s interest in 27 disclosure and justify sealing court records exist when such ‘court files might have become a 1 scandal, circulate libelous statements, or release trade secrets.” Id. at 1179 (quoting Nixon v. 2 Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598 (1978)). “The mere fact that the production of records 3 may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, incrimination, or exposure to further litigation will not, 4 without more, compel the court to seal its records.” Id. 5 The Court must “balance[] the competing interests of the public and the party who seeks to 6 keep certain judicial records secret. After considering these interests, if the court decides to seal 7 certain judicial records, it must base its decision on a compelling reason and articulate the factual 8 basis for its ruling, without relying on hypothesis or conjecture.” Id. Civil Local Rule 79-5 9 supplements the compelling reasons standard set forth in Kamakana: the party seeking to file a 10 document or portions of it under seal must “establish[] that the document, or portions thereof, are 11 privileged, protectable as a trade secret or otherwise entitled to protection under the law . . . The 12 request must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable material.” Civil L.R. 79-5(b). 13 Records attached to nondispositive motions must meet the lower “good cause” standard of 14 Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as such records “are often unrelated, or only 15 tangentially related, to the underlying cause of action.” See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179–80 16 (quotations omitted). This requires a “particularized showing” that “specific prejudice or harm 17 will result” if the information is disclosed. Phillips ex rel. Estates of Byrd v. Gen. Motors Corp., 18 307 F.3d 1206, 1210–11 (9th Cir. 2002); see also Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c). “Broad allegations of 19 harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples of articulated reasoning” will not suffice. Beckman 20 Indus., Inc. v. Int’l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 1992) (quotation omitted). 21 II. DISCUSSION 22 Plaintiffs filed an administrative motion to file under seal various exhibits to the 23 Declaration of Beth Gunn in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification. See generally 24 Mot. (seeking to seal Exs. 3–20, 22–28, 30, 32, 33, 35, 37–41, 43–46, 48, 50–54, 56, 58, 61, 67– 25 68, 74, 78–79, 87–97). Because the motion for class certification is more than tangentially related 26 to the underlying action, the Court applies the “compelling reasons” standard in evaluating the 27 motion to seal. The proffered justification for sealing the entirety of all documents is that the 1 of confidentiality is not sufficient to establish that a document is sealable. See Civ. L. R. 79- 2 5(d)(1)(A). “Confidential” is merely the parties’ initial designation of confidentiality to establish 3 coverage under the stipulated protective order. See Verinata Health, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, 4 Inc., No. 12-cv-05501-SI, 2015 WL 5117083, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 31, 2015) (“But good cause 5 ‘cannot be established simply by showing that the document is subject to a protective order or by 6 stating in general terms that the material is considered to be confidential’”) (quoting Bain v. 7 AstraZeneca LP, No. 09-cv-4147, 2011 WL 482767, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2011)). Thus, 8 Plaintiffs’ motion does not comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5(d)(1)(A). In addition, as the 9 designating party for the materials, Defendants did not comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5(e)(1), 10 because they did not file a declaration within four days of Plaintiffs’ motion. See Civ. L.R. 79- 11 5(e)(1). Accordingly, the Court DENIES the request to seal any of these exhibits on the basis of a 12 designation of “Confidential.” 13 Plaintiffs also seek to seal Exhibit 79, Plaintiff Ryan Hyams’ pay records, on the basis that 14 these records constitute “sensitive information.” Mot. at 8. Plaintiffs rely on Exhibit 79 as an 15 example of a wage statement that serves as common evidence in support of their Labor Code 16 section 226 claim. See Dkt. No. 101 at 31; see also Dkt. No. 120 at 22 (“Plaintiffs also seek to 17 certify a wage statement claim on grounds that Plaintiff Hyams’ wage statements do not specify 18 the hourly rate of pay for each separate earnings code.”). Plaintiffs point to California Labor Code 19 Section 432.3, which prohibits an employer from “seek[ing] salary history information . . . about 20 an applicant” or “rely[ing] on the salary history information of an applicant . . . as a factor in 21 determining whether to offer employment . . . or what salary to offer an applicant.” Cal. Labor 22 Code § 432.3(a)-(b). Plaintiffs argue that because Exhibit 79 contains Plaintiff Hyams’ salary 23 information, it “should not be available to the public in a searchable database.” Mot. at 8. 24 In filing a motion to seal, the burden is on the moving party to justify in detail, with 25 citations to any relevant declarations and supporting legal authority, the sealing of each fact for 26 which sealing is sought. Notably, at least some of the information in the pay records does not 27 reflect Plaintiff Hyams’ salary information, such as the labels describing the type of earnings and 1 which requires that the “request must be narrowly tailored to seek sealing only of sealable 2 || material.” Accordingly, the motion to seal Exhibit 79 in its entirety is DENIED. See Ehret v. 3 Uber Techs., Inc., No. 14-CV-00113-EMC, 2015 WL 12977024, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2015) 4 (denying motion to seal entirety of spreadsheet reflecting employees’ earnings, but finding 5 “majority of the document may be redacted,” with the exception of “pertinent information .. . 6 || relevant to the merits of the case.”). 7 Wl. CONCLUSION 8 The Court DENIES Plaintiffs’ administrative motion to file under seal, and DIRECTS 9 Plaintiffs to file public versions of all documents for which the proposed sealing has been denied 10 || within seven days of this order. Plaintiffs may also file a new motion to seal that comports with 11 the requirements discussed above within seven days of this order. 12

13 IT IS SO ORDERED. |) Dated: 3/18/2021 5 15 Alpe 5 Mb). HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR. = 16 United States District Judge

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