1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5
6 VINEYARD INVESTIGATIONS, Case No. 1:19-cv-01482-JLT-SKO
7 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING THE PARTIES’ NOTICE AND JOINT REQUEST TO 8 v. SEAL DOCUMENTS RELATED TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STRIKE 9 E. & J. GALLO WINERY, AND PLAINTIFF’S RENEWED MOTION TO COMPEL 10 Defendant. . (Docs. 140 & 143) 11 _____________________________________/
12 14 On November 20, 2024, Plaintiff Vineyard Investigations (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant E. & 15 J. Gallo (“Defendant”) filed a “Notice of Request to Seal Documents” (the “Notice”) and submitted 16 to the Court a “Joint Request to Seal Documents,” pursuant to E.D. Cal. Local Rule 141, seeking to 17 seal unredacted versions of their joint statement various exhibits related to Defendant’s Motion to 18 Strike and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion to Compel (the “Joint Request”). (Doc. 143). This Joint 19 Request follows the parties’ previous request (Doc. 140), in which the Court observed that although 20 it “indicate[d] the parties wish to redact and seal portions of documents, for many of those 21 documents it is not clear to the Court what redactions, if any, the parties propose.” (See Doc. 141.) 22 The Court has reviewed the parties’ revised Notice and Joint Request and the documents sought to 23 be sealed and/or redacted, and the Court has determined that the parties have corrected the 24 deficiencies identified in the Court’s previous order. For the reasons set forth below, the Court 25 GRANTS the Notice and Joint Request. 27 All documents filed with the court are presumptively public. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. 28 v. U.S. Dist. Court, 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999). This is because “the courts of this country 1 recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial 2 records and documents.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 3 2016) (citations omitted). Accordingly, a party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of 4 overcoming the strong public access presumption. Id. 5 Two standards generally govern requests to seal documents: the “compelling reasons” 6 standard for documents directly related to the underlying causes of action, such as documents 7 attached to summary judgment motions, and the lesser “good cause” standard for documents only 8 tangentially related to the underlying causes of action, such as those offered in support of non- 9 dispositive, discovery type motions: 10 [J]udicial records attached to dispositive motions [are treated] differently from records attached to non-dispositive motions. Those who seek to maintain the 11 secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must meet the high threshold 12 of showing that “compelling reasons” support secrecy. A “good cause” showing under Rule 26(c) will suffice to keep sealed records attached to non-dispositive 13 motions. 14 Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180 (9th Cir. 2006) (citations omitted); see 15 also Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1098; Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass'n, 605 F.3d 665, 677 (9th 16 Cir. 2009). 17 The good cause standard, applicable here, “comes from Rule 26(c)(1), which governs the 18 issuance of protective orders in the discovery process.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, LLC, 809 F.3d at 1097. 19 Rule 26(c) states that the court “may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from 20 annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c); see 21 also Pintos, 605 F.3d at 678 (stating that the good cause standard under Rule 26(c) asks “whether 22 ‘good cause’ exists to protect the information from being disclosed to the public by balancing the 23 needs for discovery against the need for confidentiality.”). 24 As the Ninth Circuit has stated, a blanket protective order does not by itself demonstrate 25 “good cause” for sealing specific information and documents. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1183 26 (“Although the magistrate judge expressly approved and entered the protective order, the order 27 contained no good cause findings as to specific documents that would justify reliance by the United 28 States....”); Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1133 (9th Cir. 2003) (“[A] party 1 seeking the protection of the court via a blanket protective order typically does not make the ‘good 2 cause’ showing required by Rule 26(c) with respect to any particular document.”); San Jose Mercury 3 News, Inc., 187 F.3d at 1103; Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int'l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 4 1992) (“Further, because the protective order was a stipulated blanket order, International never had 5 to make a ‘good cause’ showing under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) of the need for protection of the 6 deposition transcripts in the first place. Nor does it allege specific prejudice or harm now. Broad 7 allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated reasoning, do not satisfy 8 the Rule 26(c) test.”) (citations omitted); see also Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Elec. Works, Ltd., 30 F.3d 9 854, 858 (7th Cir. 1994) (“Even if the parties agree that a protective order should be entered, they 10 still have the burden of showing that good cause exists for issuance of that order. It is equally 11 apparent that the obverse also is true, i.e., if good cause is not shown, the discovery materials in 12 question should not receive judicial protection.”) (citations omitted). 14 The parties seek to seal unredacted versions of the following documents relating to related 15 to Defendant’s Motion to Strike and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion to Compel (Docs. 136 & 139): (1) 16 the parties’ “Joint Statement re: Discovery Disagreement” pursuant to E.D. Cal. L.R. 251(c) (the 17 “Joint Statement”); (2) Exhibits A-C, E-G to the Declaration of Corey Johanningmeier in support 18 of the parties’ Joint Statement; and (3) Exhibits 4 and 6 to the Declaration of Matthew Chung in 19 support of the parties’ Joint Statement. (See Docs. 140 & 143.) They further seek to seal in its 20 entirety Exhibit 5 to the Declaration of Matthew Chung in support of the parties’ Joint Statement. 21 (See id.) The request covers 288 pages. (Id.) 22 The parties seek to seal this material and document because it involves confidential business 23 information, such as proprietary information regarding the parties’ business operations.1 Non- 24 public information regarding a party’s business operations is typically subject to sealing. See Zavala 25 v. GreatBanc Tr. Co., No. 1:19-CV-00239-DAD-SKO, 2022 WL 17830231, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 26 20, 2022). Considering these privacy interests, the parties’ have adequately articulated “good cause” 27 1 The parties again argue that the Court should grant their request because the relevant documents contain material 28 designated as confidential under the parties’ stipulative protected order. As the Court has previously noted, a blanket 1 for maintaining confidentiality. See id. Further, by submitting a revised joint request that eliminates 2 redaction of otherwise publicly available information, the parties have sufficiently demonstrated a 3 “particularized showing” as to the material and document sought to be sealed. See In re High-Tech 4 Employee Antitrust Litig., No.
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1 2 3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 4 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 5
6 VINEYARD INVESTIGATIONS, Case No. 1:19-cv-01482-JLT-SKO
7 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING THE PARTIES’ NOTICE AND JOINT REQUEST TO 8 v. SEAL DOCUMENTS RELATED TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO STRIKE 9 E. & J. GALLO WINERY, AND PLAINTIFF’S RENEWED MOTION TO COMPEL 10 Defendant. . (Docs. 140 & 143) 11 _____________________________________/
12 14 On November 20, 2024, Plaintiff Vineyard Investigations (“Plaintiff”) and Defendant E. & 15 J. Gallo (“Defendant”) filed a “Notice of Request to Seal Documents” (the “Notice”) and submitted 16 to the Court a “Joint Request to Seal Documents,” pursuant to E.D. Cal. Local Rule 141, seeking to 17 seal unredacted versions of their joint statement various exhibits related to Defendant’s Motion to 18 Strike and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion to Compel (the “Joint Request”). (Doc. 143). This Joint 19 Request follows the parties’ previous request (Doc. 140), in which the Court observed that although 20 it “indicate[d] the parties wish to redact and seal portions of documents, for many of those 21 documents it is not clear to the Court what redactions, if any, the parties propose.” (See Doc. 141.) 22 The Court has reviewed the parties’ revised Notice and Joint Request and the documents sought to 23 be sealed and/or redacted, and the Court has determined that the parties have corrected the 24 deficiencies identified in the Court’s previous order. For the reasons set forth below, the Court 25 GRANTS the Notice and Joint Request. 27 All documents filed with the court are presumptively public. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. 28 v. U.S. Dist. Court, 187 F.3d 1096, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999). This is because “the courts of this country 1 recognize a general right to inspect and copy public records and documents, including judicial 2 records and documents.” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 3 2016) (citations omitted). Accordingly, a party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of 4 overcoming the strong public access presumption. Id. 5 Two standards generally govern requests to seal documents: the “compelling reasons” 6 standard for documents directly related to the underlying causes of action, such as documents 7 attached to summary judgment motions, and the lesser “good cause” standard for documents only 8 tangentially related to the underlying causes of action, such as those offered in support of non- 9 dispositive, discovery type motions: 10 [J]udicial records attached to dispositive motions [are treated] differently from records attached to non-dispositive motions. Those who seek to maintain the 11 secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must meet the high threshold 12 of showing that “compelling reasons” support secrecy. A “good cause” showing under Rule 26(c) will suffice to keep sealed records attached to non-dispositive 13 motions. 14 Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180 (9th Cir. 2006) (citations omitted); see 15 also Ctr. for Auto Safety, 809 F.3d at 1098; Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass'n, 605 F.3d 665, 677 (9th 16 Cir. 2009). 17 The good cause standard, applicable here, “comes from Rule 26(c)(1), which governs the 18 issuance of protective orders in the discovery process.” Ctr. for Auto Safety, LLC, 809 F.3d at 1097. 19 Rule 26(c) states that the court “may, for good cause, issue an order to protect a party or person from 20 annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c); see 21 also Pintos, 605 F.3d at 678 (stating that the good cause standard under Rule 26(c) asks “whether 22 ‘good cause’ exists to protect the information from being disclosed to the public by balancing the 23 needs for discovery against the need for confidentiality.”). 24 As the Ninth Circuit has stated, a blanket protective order does not by itself demonstrate 25 “good cause” for sealing specific information and documents. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1183 26 (“Although the magistrate judge expressly approved and entered the protective order, the order 27 contained no good cause findings as to specific documents that would justify reliance by the United 28 States....”); Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1133 (9th Cir. 2003) (“[A] party 1 seeking the protection of the court via a blanket protective order typically does not make the ‘good 2 cause’ showing required by Rule 26(c) with respect to any particular document.”); San Jose Mercury 3 News, Inc., 187 F.3d at 1103; Beckman Indus., Inc. v. Int'l Ins. Co., 966 F.2d 470, 476 (9th Cir. 4 1992) (“Further, because the protective order was a stipulated blanket order, International never had 5 to make a ‘good cause’ showing under Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c) of the need for protection of the 6 deposition transcripts in the first place. Nor does it allege specific prejudice or harm now. Broad 7 allegations of harm, unsubstantiated by specific examples or articulated reasoning, do not satisfy 8 the Rule 26(c) test.”) (citations omitted); see also Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Elec. Works, Ltd., 30 F.3d 9 854, 858 (7th Cir. 1994) (“Even if the parties agree that a protective order should be entered, they 10 still have the burden of showing that good cause exists for issuance of that order. It is equally 11 apparent that the obverse also is true, i.e., if good cause is not shown, the discovery materials in 12 question should not receive judicial protection.”) (citations omitted). 14 The parties seek to seal unredacted versions of the following documents relating to related 15 to Defendant’s Motion to Strike and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion to Compel (Docs. 136 & 139): (1) 16 the parties’ “Joint Statement re: Discovery Disagreement” pursuant to E.D. Cal. L.R. 251(c) (the 17 “Joint Statement”); (2) Exhibits A-C, E-G to the Declaration of Corey Johanningmeier in support 18 of the parties’ Joint Statement; and (3) Exhibits 4 and 6 to the Declaration of Matthew Chung in 19 support of the parties’ Joint Statement. (See Docs. 140 & 143.) They further seek to seal in its 20 entirety Exhibit 5 to the Declaration of Matthew Chung in support of the parties’ Joint Statement. 21 (See id.) The request covers 288 pages. (Id.) 22 The parties seek to seal this material and document because it involves confidential business 23 information, such as proprietary information regarding the parties’ business operations.1 Non- 24 public information regarding a party’s business operations is typically subject to sealing. See Zavala 25 v. GreatBanc Tr. Co., No. 1:19-CV-00239-DAD-SKO, 2022 WL 17830231, at *2 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 26 20, 2022). Considering these privacy interests, the parties’ have adequately articulated “good cause” 27 1 The parties again argue that the Court should grant their request because the relevant documents contain material 28 designated as confidential under the parties’ stipulative protected order. As the Court has previously noted, a blanket 1 for maintaining confidentiality. See id. Further, by submitting a revised joint request that eliminates 2 redaction of otherwise publicly available information, the parties have sufficiently demonstrated a 3 “particularized showing” as to the material and document sought to be sealed. See In re High-Tech 4 Employee Antitrust Litig., No. 11-CV-02509-LHK, 2013 WL 163779, at *2 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 15, 5 2013) (“Even under the ‘good cause’ standard of Rule 26(c), . . . a party must make a ‘particularized 6 showing’ with respect to any individual document in order to justify sealing the relevant 7 document.”) (quoting Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180). For these reasons, the Court will GRANT the 8 parties’ Joint Request. 10 For the forgoing reasons, the parties’ Notice and Joint Request to Seal Documents related to 11 Defendant’s Motion to Strike and Plaintiff’s Renewed Motion to Compel (Docs. 140 & 143) is 12 GRANTED. The Court ORDERS that the unredacted documents listed in the Joint Request be 13 FILED UNDER SEAL in accordance with Local Rule 141. By no later than two (2) days of the 14 date of this Order, the parties SHALL file on the docket redacted versions of (1) the parties’ “Joint 15 Statement re: Discovery Disagreement” pursuant to E.D. Cal. L.R. 251(c) (the “Joint Statement”); 16 (2) Exhibits A-C, E-G to the Declaration of Corey Johanningmeier in support of the parties’ Joint 17 Statement; and (3) Exhibits 4 and 6 to the Declaration of Matthew Chung in support of the parties’ 18 Joint Statement. 19 IT IS SO ORDERED. 20
21 Dated: November 20, 2024 /s/ Sheila K. Oberto . UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 22
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