United States of America v. Humana Inc

District Court, W.D. Kentucky·Decided November 13, 2019·No. 3:18-cv-00061·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE DIVISION CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:18-CV-61-GNS-CHL

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ex rel. STEVEN SCOTT, Plaintiff,

v.

HUMANA, INC., Defendant.

Memorandum Opinion and Order

First, before the Court is the omnibus motion for leave to file permanently under seal confidential information accompanying docket entries 172, 174, 197 and 204 filed by Defendant, Humana Inc. (“Humana”) as briefed in DNs 221, 232, and 240. Second, before the Court is the accompanying motion for leave to file Relator’s opposition to Defendant Humana’s omnibus motion for leave to file permanently under seal confidential information accompanying docket entries 172, 174, 197 and 204 provisionally under seal filed by Relator, Steven Scott (“Relator”) as briefed in DNs 231 and 239. Third, before the Court is Humana’s omnibus motion for leave to file under seal confidential information accompanying docket entries 186 and 188 as briefed in DN 218, 228 and 236. Fourth, before the Court is the accompanying motion for leave to file Relator’s opposition to Humana’s omnibus motion for leave to file permanently under seal confidential information in docket entries 186-1 and 188 provisionally under seal as briefed in DN 227 and 237. Lastly, before the Court is Humana’s motion to stay the unsealing of docket entries DN 172, 174, 197 and 204 as briefed in DN 219 and 230. I. MOTIONS TO SEAL A. Legal Standard Although the Sixth Circuit has long recognized a “strong presumption in favor of openness” regarding court records, there are certain interests that overcome this “strong presumption.” Rudd Equipment Co., Inc. v. John Deere Construction & Forestry Co., 834 F.3d 589, 593 (6th Cir. 2016) (citing Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. v. FTC, 710 F.2d 1165, 1179 (6th Cir. 1983)). These interests include “certain privacy rights of participants or third parties, trade secrets, and national security.” Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 710 F.2d at 1179. The party seeking to seal the records bears a “heavy” burden; simply showing that public disclosure of the information would, for instance, harm a company's reputation is insufficient. Id.; Shane Grp. Inc. v. Blue Cross Blue

Shield of Mich., 825 F.3d 299, 305 (6th Cir. 2016). Instead, the moving party must show that it will suffer a “clearly defined and serious injury” if the judicial records are not sealed. Shane Grp. Inc., 825 F.3d at 307. Examples of injuries sufficient to justify a sealing of judicial records include those that could be used as “sources of business information that might harm a litigant's competitive standing.” Nixon v. Warner Comm'ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 598 (1978). In rendering a decision, the Court must articulate why the interests supporting nondisclosure are compelling, why the interests supporting public access are not as compelling, and why the scope of the seal is no broader than necessary. Shane Grp. Inc., 825 F.3d at 306. Importantly, the presumption that the public has the right to access judicial records does not vanish simply because all parties in the case agree that certain records should be sealed. Rudd Equipment Co., Inc., 834

F.3d at 595 (noting that although the defendant did not object to the plaintiff's motion to seal, its lack of objection did not waive the public's First Amendment and common law right of access to court filings); Shane Grp. Inc., 825 F.3d at 305 (“A court's obligation to keep its records open for public inspection is not conditioned on an objection from anybody.”) B. Discussion 1. Humana’s Omnibus Motion for Leave to File Permanently Under Seal Confidential Information Accompanying Docket Entries 172, 174, 197 and 204 (DN 221)

Relator moved to provisionally seal DNs 172, 174, 197 and 204 pursuant to the parties’ agreed-upon stipulation. (DN 221, at PageID # 13863.) In DN 216, the Court denied Relator’s motions to provisionally seal on the grounds that after months had passed, Humana had yet to file a motion to seal permanently, and accordingly the Court directed the Clerk to unseal the docket entries. Humana subsequently moved to stay the unsealing of these documents pending the Court’s review of Humana’s motion to seal permanently. (DN 219.) In DN 222 the Court ordered the Clerk to stay the unsealing of DNs 172, 174, 197 and 204. On September 9, 2019, Humana filed the instant motion. Humana moves to seal (a) excerpts from Relator’s motion to compel and accompanying exhibits A, B, C, D, E, and H; (b) excerpts from Relator’s reply and accompanying exhibits P, Q, R, S, T, and U; (c) excerpts from Relator’s opposition and corresponding exhibit A; and lastly (d) excerpts from Relator’s supplemental notice DN 204 and corresponding exhibits A, B, D, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M and N. (DN 221, at PageID # 13864.) Humana argues that the documents its moves to seal contain non-public proprietary data, business information and trade secrets whose disclosure would cause serious commercial harm to Humana. (DN 221, at PageID # 13863.) The Court addresses each of these documents in turn below. Humana argues there is a compelling reason to seal the above identified excerpts since they contain three categories of non-public proprietary information that could cause commercial harm to Humana. (DN 221, at PageID # 13864.) First, Humana argues that the excerpts contain trade secrets concerning Humana’s internal budgets, financial projections and related budgeting practices that shed light on the factors Humana considers when formulating its budgetary projections, which competitors could use to gain an advantage over Humana. (DN 221, at PageID # 13864.) Second, Humana argues the excerpts discuss internal processes Humana follows when developing its Medicare Part D bids, its pricing practices, its actual experience data and the contributions of its actuarial consultant which could be used by Humana’s competitors to tailor their own Part D pricing strategy. (DN 221 at PageID # 13865.) Third, Humana argues the excerpts

include information concerning studies and initiatives Humana designed to increase its beneficiaries’ utilization of pharmacies in the Walmart Plan’s preferred network and internal compliance information that, if disclosed, could cause Humana serious competitive harm. (DN 221 at PageID # 13865.) Humana argues that in recognition of the presumption of public access, Humana limited its motion to seal to those narrowly tailored excerpts that contain confidential information, rather than moving to seal the applicable docket entries in their entirety. (DN 240, at PageID # 18015.) In response, Relator makes three arguments for why the Court should not seal the documents requested. First, Relator argues more than eight months passed after Relator filed his

motion to provisionally seal pursuant to the stipulated agreement. (DN 232 at PageID # 17884.) Relator contends that DNs 172, 174, 197 and 204 were ordered unsealed no earlier than 21 days after entry of the August 30, 2019 order, thus the instant motion is a motion for reconsideration. However, the Court notes that DNs 172, 174, 197 and 204 were ordered unsealed due to Humana’s failure to timely file a response to Relator’s motion to seal pursuant to a confidentiality stipulation.

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