Uehling v. Millennium Laboratories, Inc. et al

MOTION to File Documents Under Seal

S.D. Cal.January 29, 2018

1 {02140470} Case No. 16-CV-02812-L-MDD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 James R. Lance (SBN 147173) jlance@noonanlance.com Micaela P. Banach (SBN 226656) mbanach@noonanlance.com Genevieve M. Ruch (SBN 285722) gruch@noonanlance.com NOONAN LANCE BOYER & BANACH LLP 701 Island Avenue, Suite 400 San Diego, California 92101 Tel.: (619) 780-0880/Facsimile: (619) 780-0877 Joel M. Androphy (Pro Hac Vice) jandrophy@bafirm.com Victoria Mery (Pro Hac Vice) vmery@bafirm.com Justin C. Pfeiffer (SBN 248306) jpfeiffer@bafirm.com BERG & ANDROPHY 3704 Travis Street Houston, Texas 77002 Telephone: (713) 529-5622 Attorneys for Plaintiff RYAN UEHLING UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA RYAN UEHLING, Plaintiff, v. MILLENNIUM LABORATORIES, INC., et al., Defendant. Case No.: 16-CV-02812-L-MDD PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO FILE DOCUMENTS UNDER SEAL Date: 02/12/18 Judge: Hon. M. James Lorenz Ctrm: 5B [ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED] Case 3:16-cv-02812-L-MDD Document 120 Filed 01/29/18 PageID.1961 Page 1 of 3 2 {02140470} Case No. 16-CV-02812-L-MDD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Plaintiff Ryan Uehling (“Plaintiff”) hereby submits this Motion to File Documents Under Seal. I. THE MOTION SHOULD BE DENIED On June 17, 2017, Hon. Mitchell Dembin approved the parties’ joint request for entry of a Protective Order in this case to govern the use of confidential, non- public and/or proprietary information. (Dkt. 61.) Defendant Millennium Laboratories, Inc. (“Defendant”) thereafter produced documents, nearly all of which were marked “confidential.” Additionally, Defendant designated every deposition transcript in this case “confidential.” Plaintiff repeatedly objected to Defendant’s blanket confidentiality designation without regard to whether the document or testimony actually contained confidential, non-public and/or proprietary information. Pursuant to the terms of the protective order, Plaintiff met and conferred with counsel for Defendant about this issue; the burden was then on Defendant to ask the Court to authorize the confidential designation. (See Paragraph 5; Declaration of Micaela P. Banach (“Banach Dec.”) at ¶ 3, Ex. 1.) Defendant never did so. (Id. at ¶ 3.) The protective order requires that any information marked “confidential” shall be attempted to be filed with the clerk “under seal.” (See Paragraph 7.) So as to comply with Plaintiff’s obligation under the Protective Order, Plaintiff is submitting portions of its Opposition to Summary Judgment and supporting exhibits under seal. However, Plaintiff does not agree that any of the material offered should be sealed. None of the material offered is confidential, non-public and/or proprietary information. Plaintiff agrees with this Court’s Order Denying Millennium’s Motion to Seal because simply stamping “confidential” on a document does not mean the document should be sealed and public access denied. (Dkt. 116.) Aside from “grand jury transcripts and warrant materials in the midst of a pre-indictment investigation,” a Case 3:16-cv-02812-L-MDD Document 120 Filed 01/29/18 PageID.1962 Page 2 of 3 3 {02140470} Case No. 16-CV-02812-L-MDD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 strong presumption applies in favor of public access to judicial records. Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006). A party seeking to seal a judicial record bears the burden of overcoming the strong presumption of public access by meeting the “compelling reasons” standard. Id. at 1178. Plaintiff contends that there are no compelling reasons to seal the documents which are the subject of this Motion and which are being offered to oppose Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. II. CONCLUSION Plaintiff requests that the Court deny this motion to seal and order the documents filed in the public record. Dated: January 29, 2018 NOONAN LANCE BOYER & BANACH LLP By: /s/ James R. Lance James R. Lance Micaela P. Banach Genevieve M. Ruch Attorneys for Plaintiff Ryan Uehling Case 3:16-cv-02812-L-MDD Document 120 Filed 01/29/18 PageID.1963 Page 3 of 3