Rocco v. New York State Court Officers Association

Opinion

USDC SDNY DOCUMENT UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT ELECTRONICALLY FILED SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK DOC #: cn cman nnnn canna nnnec anne cnnn anne cnnan cance cans K DATE FILED:__6/5/2025 JERRY ROCCO, :

Plaintiff, : -v- : 23-cv-10973 (LJL)

NEW YORK STATE COURT OFFICERS : ORDER ASSOCIATION, :

Defendant. : wee KX LEWIS J. LIMAN, United States District Judge: Plaintiffs request to file under seal an exhibit in connection with his opposition to Defendant’s motion for summary judgment at Dkt. No. 48 is granted. The document consists of medical records of the Plaintiff disclosing the particulars of his condition and treatment. “Where documents are used to determine litigants’ substantive legal rights, a strong presumption of access attaches.” See Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 121 (2d Cir. 2006)). However, “[p]ersonal medical information implicates significant privacy interests that overcome the strong presumption of public access[.]” Thor Equities, LLC v. Factory Mut. Ins. Co., 2023 WL 6382684, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 29, 2023); Hanks v. Voya Ret. Ins. and Annuity Co., 2021 WL 2451981, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. June 16, 2021) (“[P]rotecting personal medical information outweigh[s] the public’s right to access this information [when the redactions are] narrowly tailored.”). Plaintiffs privacy interest in his medical record outweighs the public right of access in this instance. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to close Dkt. No. 48. SO ORDERED. <_fL we oo Dated: June 6, 2025 AA New York, New York LEWIS J. LIMAN United States District Judge