Lomax v. Hutchins

Opinion

3 * * *

4 NATHAN LOMAX, Case No. 2:23-cv-01284-CDS-EJY

5 Plaintiff,

6 v. ORDER

7 STATE OF NEVADA, et al.,

8 Defendants.

9 10 Pending before the Court is Defendants’ Motion to Seal Plaintiff’s medical records 11 attached as exhibits to their Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF No. 29 at 2. As the party seeking 12 to seal a judicial record Defendants must meet their burden of overcoming the strong presumption 13 in favor of access and public policies favoring disclosure. Kamakana v. City and Cnty. of 14 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178–79 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding that those who seek to maintain the 15 secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must meet the high threshold of showing 16 that “compelling reasons” support secrecy). Importantly, medical privacy meets the compelling 17 reason standard. See, e.g., San Ramon Regional Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Principal Life Ins. Co., 2011 18 WL89931, at *n. 1 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 10, 2011); Abbey v. Hawaii Employers Mut. Ins. Co., 2010 19 WL4715793, at *1-2 (D.HI. Nov. 15, 2010); G. v. Hawaii, 2010 WL 267483, at *1-2 (D. Haw. 20 June 25, 2010); Wilkins v. Ahern, 2010 WL3755654 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 24, 2010); Foltz v. State 21 Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1136 (9th Cir. 2003). 22 The Court considered the Motion and the medical records sought to be filed under seal. 23 The Court finds the medical records, Exhibits E, F, and G to Defendants’ Motion for Summary 24 Judgment, are properly sealed. 25 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants’ Motion to Seal (ECF No. 29) 26 is GRANTED. 27 28 1 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Exhibits E, F, and G to Defendants’ Motion for 2 Summary Judgment filed at ECF No. 30 are and shall remain sealed. 3 DATED this 7th day of July, 2025. 4

5 ELAYNA J. YOUCHAH 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28