United States of America v. Humana Inc

District Court, W.D. Kentucky·Decided November 5, 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 Before the Court is the omnibus motion for leave to file permanently under seal confidential information accompanying docket entries 201, 208 and 211 filed by Defendant, Humana Inc. (“Humana”) as briefed in DNs 217, 226, and 234. Also before the Court is the 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 201, 208 and 211 provisionally under seal filed by Relator, Steven Scott (“Relator”) as briefed in DNs 225 and DN 235. For the reasons set forth below, Humana’s motion to seal (DN 217) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Relator’s motion for leave to file his opposition to Humana’s omnibus motion under seal (DN 225) is DENIED. 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, his 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 201, 208, and 211 (DN 217) Humana moves to permanently file under seal excerpts of Relator’s motion to compel Humana to fully comply with Realtor’s Rule 30(b)(6) deposition notice (DN 201) and exhibits; Humana’s opposition to Relator’s motion to compel Rule 30(b)(6) testimony or in the alternative, Humana’s motion for a protective order (DN 208) and exhibits; and Relator’s reply to Humana’s opposition to Relator’s motion to compel (DN 211) and exhibits. (DN 217, at PageID # 12857.) DNs 201, 208 and 211 are filed provisionally under seal pursuant to this Court’s order. (DN 241.) Humana states that pursuant to the parties’ agreed-upon stipulation, the party who designated the information and exhibits as confidential shall move to permanently seal such information and

exhibits. (DN 217, at PageID # 12857, n. 1.) Humana contends the portions of the motions and the exhibits subject to this motion include excerpts from DN 201 and corresponding exhibits A, B, D-K, M-Q; excerpts from DN 208, the Declarations of Rachael Theiss and William Buffaloe (DN 208-1 and DN 208-2) and corresponding exhibits 1-5, 7, 8, 11-17, 19-21, 23 and 24; and excerpts from DN 211 and corresponding exhibits S, T, and U. (DN 217, at PageID #12858.) Humana argues there is a compelling reason to seal the above identified excerpts since they contain three categories of non-public proprietary information that would cause commercial harm to Humana if filed in the public record. (DN 217, at PageID # 12858.) First, Humana argues the

excerpts contain information about Humana’s internal Medicare Part D bid practices that, if disclosed, would enable Humana’s competitors to tailor their own Part D pricing strategy, putting Humana at a disadvantage in the Part D market because Humana would not have access to similar information concerning its competitors’ internal Part D bid practices. (DN 217, at PageID #12858.) Second, Humana argues the excerpts reflect confidential internal financial information whose disclosure could also cause serious competitive and economic harm because they provide insight into the factors Humana considers when formulating its budgetary projections, which competitors and business partners could use to gain an advantage over Humana. (DN 217, at PageID #12858.) Lastly, Humana argues the excerpts reflect confidential internal compliance information including insight into the mechanisms and technological infrastructure Humana utilizes to ensure its compliance with regulations from CMS. (DN 217, at PageID #12859.) Humana argues this information can be used by competitors to develop their own compliance initiatives, unfairly bypassing the substantial investment required to develop such programs. (DN 217, at PageID #12859.)

Humana argues that in recognition of the presumption of public access, Humana has moved to seal only narrowly tailored excerpts that contain confidential information, rather than moving to seal the applicable docket entries in their entirety. In response, Realtor argues Humana’s request comes nearly five months after the parties’ briefing on the motion to compel concluded and that the motion be denied on the grounds of unjustifiable delay. (DN 226, at PageID #17820). Relator argues the Court should deny Humana’s request to permanently seal portions of the parties’ motions and supporting declarations because the information Humana seeks to conceal is of significant public interest, as it concerns alleged misrepresentations related to the expenditure of vast sums of taxpayer money on healthcare. (DN

226, at PageID #17821.) Relator argues that his 30(b)(6) deposition notice, Humana’s objection to that notice, the questions posed to witnesses during the depositions and the witness’s responses to those questions are essential evidence for interested members of the public who wish to assess the Court’s decisions for themselves. (DN 226, at PageID #17821.) Relator argues the above documents are critical to the Court’s resolution of the pending motion because the documents demonstrate why the testimony Relator seeks to compel is relevant and why Humana’s corporate testimony was wholly inadequate.

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United States of America v. Humana Inc, (W.D. Ky. 2019).

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