In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation

Opinion

35 West Wacker Drive W| N STO N Chicago, IL 60601-9703 +1 312-558-5600 &STRAWN NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA EUROPE ASIA □□ □□□ 598-9700 LLP RONALD Y. ROTHSTEIN Partner +1 312-558-7464 RRothste@winston.com February 27, 2025

VIA ECF Honorable Jesse M. Furman Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse Southern District of New York 40 Foley Square New York, New York 10007 Re: In re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation, No. 1:22-cv-10667 Macha vy. The Laundress, LLC, No. 1:24-cv-02108 Dear Judge Furman, I write on behalf of Defendant The Laundress, LLC (“The Laundress’) in the above- captioned action (“Action”) with respect to the matter styled as Macha v. The Laundress, LLC, No. 1:24-cv-02108-JMF. Pursuant to Rule 7.A of Your Honor’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases (“Individual Rules”), Defendant The Laundress, LLC (“The Laundress”) hereby seeks leave to file by ECF The Laundress’s Letter-Motion Seeking to Exclude Plaintiffs Olga Macha and Lauris Macs from the Deposition of A.S. (“Letter-Motion”) with certain confidential information sealed or redacted. The parties may “without prior Court approval, redact from their public filings . . . medical records [including information regarding treatment and diagnosis], employment history, [and] individual financial information[.]” Individual Rules at 7.A. Courts in this District routinely order documents containing sensitive medical information to be filed under seal. See, e.g., Valentini v. Grp. Health Inc., 2020 WL 7646892, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 23, 2020); McGuirk v. Swiss Re Fin. Servs. Corp., 2015 WL 13661685, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2015) (“Medical information is among the types of information often made subject to a sealing order.”). The Laundress seeks to file in redacted form or under seal information that qualifies as Protected Health Information (“PHI”) of fourteen-year-old minor child, A.S., who is being deposed on March 10, 2025. In particular, the Letter-Motion and its attached exhibits, contain information related to A.S.’s medical records, including information related to diagnosis and treatment. An index listing all material that the parties seek to file in redacted form or under seal is attached as Exhibit A.

GOTRAAWIN February 27, 2025 LLP Page 2

Respectfully submitted, s/ Ronald Y. Rothstein Ronald Y. Rothstein

Given that A.S.'s health is central to Plaintiff's claims in this case, there is a strong argument that, at least as to some of what Defendant has proposed to redact or seal, the presumption in favor of public access outweighs the usual privacy interests inherent in medical information. That said, given that A.S. is a minor and this is only a discovery dispute, the Court will err on the side of caution and grant Defendant's motion to seal, subject to reconsideration in the event that anyone files a motion to unseal. Plaintiffs shall file a response to Defendant's letter motion, not to exceed three pages, within three business days (that is, by the close of business on March 4, 2025). The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate ECF Nos. 214 and 215. SQ_ORDERED, Cpe € j