ShaZor Logistics LLC v. Amazon.com LLC

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedOctober 1, 2024
Docket2:24-cv-00968
StatusUnknown

This text of ShaZor Logistics LLC v. Amazon.com LLC (ShaZor Logistics LLC v. Amazon.com LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
ShaZor Logistics LLC v. Amazon.com LLC, (W.D. Wash. 2024).

Opinion

1 Hon. Barbara J. Rothstein

2 3

4 5

6 7 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 8 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON - AT SEATTLE

9 SHAZOR LOGISTICS, LLC, NO. 2:24-cv-00968 BJR

10 Plaintiff, STIPULATED MOTION TO SEAL 11 AND ORDER v.

12 AMAZON.COM, LLC and AMAZON 13 LOGISTICS, INC., Defendants. 14

15 STIPULATED MOTION TO SEAL 16 I. INTRODUCTION 17 By way of response to Plaintiff ShaZor Logistics, LLC’s Motion to Seal at Dkt. No. 5, and 18 pursuant to Local Civil Rule 5(g), Defendants Amazon.com, Inc. (identified as Amazon.com, LLC) 19 and Amazon Logistics, Inc. (together, “Amazon Logistics”) and Plaintiff ShaZor Logistics, LLC 20 (“ShaZor”) jointly move to seal and redact confidential exhibits filed provisionally under seal by 21 ShaZor with its Motion to Vacate. 22 23 24 25 26 STIPULATED MOTION TO SEAL AND SUMMIT LAW GROUP, PLLC ORDER - 1 315 FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH, SUITE 1000 1 Specifically, the parties respectfully request that, with respect to the Declaration of Daimeon 2 Cotton filed at Dkt. Nos. 4 and 61, the Court maintain under seal Exhibits P, L, Y and BB and redact 3 confidential information from Exhibits C, H, I, J, and V (together, the “Confidential Exhibits”). 4 Amazon Logistics produced Exhibits H, I, J, L, P, Y and BB in discovery in the parties’ 5 underlying arbitration and these documents have been designated by Amazon Logistics as 6 “Confidential” under the protective order entered by the arbitration panel. Exhibit C comprises 7 excerpts of the transcript from the parties’ confidential final arbitration hearing on February 5 and 6, 8 2024, which is likewise designated as “Confidential” under the operative protective order, as is 9 Exhibit V, the final arbitration award. As set forth below, there are compelling reasons to maintain 10 information in these exhibits redacted and under seal. 11 II. BACKGROUND 12 In 2018, Amazon Logistics engaged ShaZor as a last-mile delivery provider to transport 13 packages from local delivery stations in Michigan to customers pursuant to the terms of the parties’ 14 contract, the Delivery Service Partner Agreement (“Agreement”). Dkt. No. 22, Ex. V at 1. The 15 Agreement provided for an initial one-year term and the possibility of renewal for successive terms, 16 although either party could avoid renewal via written notice within 30 days of the end of a term. Id. 17 at 1-2. The Agreement also included a confidentiality provision. Dkt. No. 22, Ex. CC § 7. Following 18 its fourth term, Amazon Logistics did not renew the contract at the end of its term, effective as of the 19 end of March 2022. Dkt. No. 22, Ex. N. 20 In June 2022, ShaZor sued Amazon Logistics in federal court. See generally Dkt. No. 4, Ex. 21 B. After Amazon Logistics successfully compelled arbitration, ShaZor brought the same claims in a 22 Demand for Arbitration dated October 2022. The parties selected an arbitration panel of three former 23 24

25 1 An amended version of Dkt. No. 6 was filed jointly by the parties at Dkt. No. 22. This Court struck Dkt. No. 6. as originally filed. Dkt. No. 23 (Order Granting Stipulated Motion to Strike and Replace Dkt. No. 6). 26 Accordingly, this motion is directed to the amended compilation of sealed exhibits, filed at Dkt. No. 22. STIPULATED MOTION TO SEAL AND SUMMIT LAW GROUP, PLLC ORDER - 2 315 FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH, SUITE 1000 1 Washington State judges: the Honorable Laura Inveen (ret.), the Honorable Bruce Heller (ret.), and 2 the Honorable George Finkle (ret.). 3 On December 22, 2022, the panel entered a Stipulated Protective Order that had been jointly 4 proposed by the parties. The Protective Order designated as Confidential all matters relating to the 5 arbitration, including pleadings, discovery material, orders, and any interim or final award, barring 6 disclosure except in limited circumstances. 7 In February 2024, the parties participated in a two-day confidential arbitration on ShaZor’s 8 sole remaining claim of retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (“Section 1981”).2 The full hearing 9 transcript was designated “Confidential,” as were the arbitration exhibits. Following the hearing, the 10 panel found in favor of Amazon Logistics, concluding ShaZor did not prove its claim. Dkt. No. 22, 11 Ex. V at 3-5. 12 On July 1, 2024, ShaZor petitioned this Court to vacate the arbitration award. Dkt. No. 1. It 13 also filed a memorandum supporting its petition (Dkt. No. 3), which this Court converted into a 14 motion to vacate by agreement of the parties, along with a declaration of counsel attaching publicly 15 filed exhibits (Dkt. No. 4), and a compilation of sealed exhibits (Dkt. No. 6). 16 The parties thereafter agreed to strike and replace the initially filed sealed exhibits (Dkt. No. 6) 17 with a narrowed compilation of sealed exhibits (Dkt. No. 22). The Court granted the parties’ stipulated 18 motion, replacing Dkt. No. 6 with the amended compilation of exhibits filed at Dkt. No. 22. See Dkt. 19 No. 23. As amended, Dkt. No. 6 comprises 24 hearing records (or excerpts thereof) from the parties’ 20 confidential arbitration. Of those exhibits, the parties ask the Court to maintain under seal four exhibits: Exhibit P (a PowerPoint presentation), Exhibit L (terms of an offer to ShaZor), and 21 Exhibits Y and BB (instant message conversations). The parties also ask the Court to redact 22 confidential and proprietary portions of five other exhibits: Exhibit C (hearing testimony of an 23 Amazon Logistics witness), Exhibits H, I, and J (legal notices issued to ShaZor), and Exhibit V (the 24 arbitration award). 25

26 2 The panel dismissed ShaZor’s other claims at summary judgment. Dkt. No. 4, Ex. S. STIPULATED MOTION TO SEAL AND SUMMIT LAW GROUP, PLLC ORDER - 3 315 FIFTH AVENUE SOUTH, SUITE 1000 III. CERTIFICATION OF LCR 5 CONFERENCE 1 In compliance with Local Civil Rule 5(g)(3)(A), counsel for Amazon Logistics, Diana Breaux 2 and Eva Oliver, conferred with counsel for ShaZor, Nathan Nanfelt and Daimeon Cotton, via Zoom 3 videoconferences on August 22, 2024, and August 29, 2024. The parties agreed to strike and replace 4 the compilation of exhibits originally filed by ShaZor with an amended version containing excerpts, 5 where appropriate, to narrow the scope of sealed documents at issue in this motion. Accordingly, the 6 parties filed a stipulated motion strike and replace Dkt. No. 6 with an amended version on August 29, 7 2024, and contemporaneously filed the amended exhibits under seal.3 See Dkt. Nos. 21-22. The Court 8 granted the parties’ stipulated motion. Dkt. No. 23. This motion is therefore directed to the amended 9 exhibits. ShaZor joins Amazon Logistics’ requests to seal and redact. 10 IV. ARGUMENT 11 Through this stipulated motion to seal, the parties ask this Court to maintain under seal only 12 a fraction of the record of the confidential arbitration submitted with ShaZor’s Motion to Vacate (four 13 exhibits and portions of five others) based on the confidential and commercially sensitive information 14 about Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (“DSP”) program contained therein. 15 A. Legal Standard 16 Although there exists a “strong presumption in favor of access [to court records],” Kamakana 17 v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006), this presumption “is not absolute 18 and can be overridden given sufficiently compelling reasons for doing so,” Foltz v. State Farm Mut. 19 Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). Courts must “conscientiously balance” the 20 interest of the public’s access with the reasons a party seeks to keep a document or information 21 private. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179. 22 A court may seal records when there is a “compelling reason” to do so. Ctr. for Auto Safety v.

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