Minit Mart LLC v. Synergy Petroleum Enterprises, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided July 14, 2025·No. 3:23-cv-02734·Unknown

Opinion

1 2 3 6 7 MINIT MART LLC, Case No. 23-cv-02734-TSH

8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND 9 v. DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT’S ADMINISTRATIVE MOTIONS TO 10 SYNERGY PETROLEUM ENTERPRISES, CONSIDER WHETHER ANOTHER INC., PARTY’S MATERIAL SHOULD BE Defendant. 12 Re: Dkt. Nos. 45, 57

13 15 Plaintiff Minit Mart LLC (“Minit Mart”) filed a complaint for breach of contract and 16 declaratory judgment against Defendant Synergy Petroleum Enterprises, Inc. (“Synergy”), alleging 17 Synergy failed to perform its obligations under an April 14, 2023, Purchase and Sale Agreement. 18 ECF No. 20. Pending before the Court are two Administrative Motions to Consider Whether 19 Another Party’s Material Should Be Sealed filed by Synergy in connection with its Motion for 20 Summary Judgment. ECF Nos. 45, 57. Minit Mart requests that some documents be sealed on the 21 grounds that disclosure would cause competitive harm and that much of the information is subject 22 to confidentiality agreements with third parties. ECF Nos. 50, 59. Minit Mart does not request 23 that the remaining documents be sealed. Id. For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS 24 IN PART and DENIES IN PART each Motion.1 25 26 27 2 “Historically, courts have recognized a ‘general right to inspect and copy public records 3 and documents, including judicial records and documents.’” Kamakana v. City and Cty. of 4 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006) (quoting Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 5 U.S. 589, 597, n.7 (1978)). Courts generally apply a “compelling reasons” standard when 6 considering motions to seal, recognizing that “a strong presumption in favor of access is the 7 starting point.” Id. (cleaned up). Parties seeking to seal judicial records relating to motions that 8 are “more than tangentially related to the underlying cause of action,” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. 9 Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1099 (9th Cir. 2016), bear the burden of overcoming the 10 presumption with “compelling reasons supported by specific factual findings that outweigh the 11 general history of access and the public policies favoring disclosure,” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 12 1178–79 (cleaned up). By contrast, a “good cause showing” under Federal Rule of Civil 13 Procedure 26(c) “will suffice to keep sealed records attached to non-dispositive motions.” Id. at 14 1180. 15 Here, the documents at issue were filed by Synergy in connection with its Motion for 16 Summary Judgment. ECF Nos. 45, 57. Motions for summary judgment, along with their attached 17 documents, are more than tangentially related to the merits of a case. See Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 18 F.3d at 1098 (“while discovery-related motions are often unrelated to the merits of a case, the 19 same cannot be said for materials attached to a summary judgment motion because summary 20 judgment adjudicates substantive rights and serves as a substitute for trial”) (cleaned up); Exeltis 21 USA Inc. v. First Databank, Inc., No. 17-cv-04810-HSG, 2020 WL 2838812, at *2 (N.D. Cal. 22 June 01, 2020) (“Because the parties seek to seal portions and documents which pertain to 23 summary judgment motions, the Court applies the compelling reasons standard to these 24 documents.”). Accordingly, the compelling reasons standard applies. 25 Civil Local Rule 79-5 supplements the “compelling reasons” standard. Exeltis, 2020 WL 26 2838812, at *1. Where, as here, a filing party (the “Filing Party”) seeks to seal a filed document 27 because that document has been designated as confidential by another party (the “Designating 1 Material Should Be Sealed. CIV. L.R. 79-5(f). This motion must identify each document or 2 portions thereof for which sealing is sought. Id. “Within 7 days of the motion's filing, the 3 Designating Party must file a statement and/or declaration” including “a specific statement of the 4 applicable legal standard and the reasons for keeping a document under seal.” Id. at 79-5(c)(1), 5 (f). That statement must include (i) the legitimate private or public interests that warrant sealing; 6 (ii) the injury that will result if sealing is denied; and (iii) why a less restrictive alternative to 7 sealing is not sufficient. Id. at 79-5(c)(1). A failure to file a statement or declaration may result in 8 the unsealing of the provisionally sealed document without notice to the Designating Party. Id. 10 A. ECF No. 45 11 On May 1, 2025, Synergy filed an Administrative Motion, pursuant to Civil Local Rule 79- 12 5, in connection with its Motion for Summary Judgment. ECF Nos. 45, 45-3. Synergy moves to 13 file sixteen documents under seal on the basis that they were designated as “Confidential” or 14 “Highly Confidential, Attorneys’ Eyes Only” by Minit Mart: 15 • Exhibit L to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. L”) (ECF No. 45-18) 16 • Exhibit M to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. M”) (ECF No. 45-19) 17 • Exhibit O to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. O”) (ECF No. 45-21) 18 • Exhibit P to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. P”) (ECF No. 45-22) 19 • Exhibit Q to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. Q”) (ECF No. 45-23) 20 • Exhibit R to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. R”) (ECF No. 45-24) 21 • Exhibit S to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. S”) (ECF No. 45-25) 22 • Exhibit T to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. T”) (ECF No. 45-26) 23 • Exhibit U to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. U”) (ECF No. 45-27) 24 • Exhibit V to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. V”) (ECF No. 45-28) 25 • Exhibit W to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. W”) (ECF No. 45-29) 26 • Exhibit X to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. X”) (ECF No. 45-30) 27 • Exhibit Y to Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (“Marca Ex. Y”) (ECF No. 45-31) 1 • Declaration of Scott Olson (ECF No. 45-33) 2 • Exhibit A to Declaration of Robert E. Unell (“Unell Ex. A”) (ECF No. 45-38) 3 ECF No. 45. Synergy also moves to seal certain portions of four documents as they quote from 4 and discuss these documents: 5 • Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (“MSJ”) (ECF No. 45-3) 6 • Defendant’s Separate Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (ECF No. 45-4) 7 • Declaration of Matthew D. Marca (ECF No. 45-13) 8 • Declaration of Robert E. Unell (ECF No. 45-37) 9 Id. 10 On May 8, 2025, Minit Mart filed a Response to Synergy’s first Administrative Motion 11 requesting sealing of eleven documents: Marca Ex. L; Marca Ex. O; Marca Ex. P; Marca Ex. Q; 12 Marca Ex. R; Marca Ex. S; Marca Ex. T; Marca Ex. U; Marca Ex. V; Marca Ex. Y; and Marca Ex. 13 Z. ECF No. 50. Minit Mart also requests sealing of select portions in three documents: MSJ at 14 6:3–14; Unell Declaration ¶¶ 10–12; Unell Ex. A ¶¶ 50–52 and the email screenshots shown on 15 Unell Ex. A, at pages 9–15. Id. In support of its request, Minit Mart submits a declaration from 16 Russell Robben setting forth the bases for sealing each document. See Declaration of Russell 17 Robben in Support of Plaintiff’s Response (ECF No. 50-1). 18 All of Minit Mart’s sealing requests relate to exhibits and portions of briefings that discuss 19 confidential business documents. ECF No. 50. Minit Mart argues that each document at issue 20 contains competitively sensitive business information provided by third parties that is subject to 21 either non-disclosure or confidentiality agreements. Id. Marca Exhibits L, and O through V, 22 relate to third-party bid documents submitted confidentially—the documents include bidder 23 identities, proposals, and financial information which constitute business methods. ECF No. 50-1 24 at 1:27–2:11. Synergy’s Motion for Summary Judgment discusses these confidential bidder 25 identities and commercial terms. Id. at 2:4–6.

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Minit Mart LLC v. Synergy Petroleum Enterprises, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2025).

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