Administrative Motion to File Under Seal filed by Cat Brooks,… — Brooks v. Thomson Reuters Corporation (Dkt. 249)

Summary

Plaintiffs' Administrative Motion to File Under Seal, Document 249, filed 09/25/24 in Brooks v. Thomson Reuters Corporation, Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW (N.D. Cal.), under Civil Local Rules 7-11 and 79-5(c). It seeks to seal an exhibit to the Declaration of Steven Weisbrot containing the pricing details of the administration cost estimate that the Court requested in ECF No. 246. Plaintiffs argue there are compelling reasons because the bid pricing is not public and disclosure would harm Angeion Group by letting competitors use it. They say the motion is accompanied by a declaration of Andre M. Mura, an unredacted exhibit and a proposed order.

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           Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC             Document 249   Filed 09/25/24   Page 1 of 4




 1    Andre M. Mura (SBN 298541)                        Geoffrey A. Graber (SBN 211547)
      Ezekiel S. Wald (SBN 341490)                      Karina G. Puttieva (SBN 317702)
 2
      GIBBS LAW GROUP LLP                               COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL
 3    1111 Broadway, Suite 2100                         PLLC
      Oakland, CA 94607                                 1100 New York Ave. NW, Fifth Floor
 4                                                      Washington, DC 20005
      Telephone: (510) 350-9700
 5    Facsimile: (510) 350-9701                         Telephone: (202) 408-4600
      amm@classlawgroup.com                             Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
 6    zsw@classlawgroup.com                             ggraber@cohenmilstein.com
 7                                                      kputtieva@cohenmilstein.com

 8
 9
10
11
12   Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Class
13
14
15                          UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
                              NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
16                                SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
17
     CAT BROOKS and RASHEED SHABAZZ,                   Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
18   individually and on behalf of all others
     similarly situated,                               PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE
19
                                                       MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
20                                  Plaintiffs,
            v.                                         Judge: Hon. Edward M. Chen
21
22   THOMSON REUTERS CORPORATION,
23
                                  Defendant.
24
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28


                 PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
                              Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
             Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC        Document 249       Filed 09/25/24     Page 2 of 4




 1           Plaintiffs move pursuant to Civil Local Rules 7-11 and 79-5(c) to seal an exhibit to
 2   the Declaration of Steven Weisbrot (“Weisbrot Decl.”) that contains the confidential
 3   “pricing details comprising the administration cost estimate” that the Court requested. ECF
 4   No. 246 at p. 3. The Court recognized that “[s]uch information may be submitted under
 5   seal.” Id.
 6           As required by Civil Local Rules 79-5(c) and 7-11(a), Plaintiffs simultaneously
 7   submit (1) the declaration of Andre M. Mura in support of Plaintiffs’ Administrative
 8   Motion to File Under Seal (“Mura Decl.”); (2) an unredacted version of Exhibit A to the
 9   declaration of Steven Weisbrot; and (3) a proposed order identifying the exhibit.
10      I.        LEGAL STANDARD
11           There is a “strong presumption in favor of access” to court records, but “access to
12   judicial records is not absolute.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178
13   (9th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). The legal standard applicable to whether a document
14   should be sealed depends on whether the document is attached to a dispositive motion or a
15   non-dispositive motion. See id. at 1179-80. Documents attached to dispositive motions may
16   be sealed only when the proponent establishes “compelling reasons” for doing so. Id. at
17   1179. Documents attached to non-dispositive motions that relate to the merits only
18   tangentially may be sealed upon a lesser showing of good cause. Id. at 1180. Motions to file
19   under seal connected to motions for preliminary approval of class action settlements are
20   subject to the “compelling reasons” standard. Thomas v. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp., No.
21   14-CV-01160-JST, 2017 WL 4750628, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 20, 2017); In re Yahoo! Inc. Sec.
22   Litig., No. 17-CV-00373-LHK, 2018 WL 11349976, at *2 (N.D. Cal. May 9, 2018).
23            What reasons are sufficiently compelling to justify sealing documents is generally
24   “left to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Ctr. For Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809
25   F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir. 2016). Commonly accepted examples of sealable materials,
26   however, are “business information that might harm a litigant’s competitive standing,”
27   Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S.589, 598 (1978), and “confidential financial
28   information,” Prescott v. Reckitt Benckiser LLC, No. 20-cv-02101-BLF, 2022 WL 847309, at *2

                                                1
                   PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
                               Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
              Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC       Document 249      Filed 09/25/24    Page 3 of 4




 1   (N.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2022). The information that Plaintiffs seek to seal here falls into these
 2   categories.
 3      II.      ARGUMENT
 4            Plaintiffs seek to file under seal only the bid details showing pricing information
 5   that the Court requested and already recognized was competitively sensitive and
 6   appropriate for sealing. ECF No. 246 at 3. There are compelling reasons to seal this detailed
 7   information because it is not available to the public, and public disclosure of this
 8   information would harm Angeion Group by allowing its competitors to leverage that
 9   detailed information for their own competitive purposes. Nixon, 435 U.S. at 598 (holding
10   that “business information that might harm…competitive standing” should be sealed);
11   Prescott, 2022 WL 847309, at *2 (collecting cases and noting that when it comes to
12   “confidential financial information . . . [c]ourts within the Ninth Circuit commonly grant
13   sealing requests to protect exactly this type of information”); Brown v. Brown, 2013 WL
14   12400041, at *1 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 30, 2013) (finding compelling reasons to seal business
15   financial information where “the public disclosure of this information could harm these
16   companies if the information was used by its competitors”); In re Electronic Arts, 298 F.
17   App’x 568, 569 (9th Cir. 2008) (finding compelling reasons to seal “pricing terms, royalty
18   rates, and guaranteed minimum payment terms”); DiscoverOrg Data, LLC v. Bitnine Glob.,
19   Inc., No. 19-CV-08098-LHK, 2020 WL 8669859, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 6, 2020) (“[C]ourts have
20   found compelling reasons to seal pricing terms.”); Philips v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 14-cv-
21   02989-LHK, 2016 WL 7374214, at *6 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 20, 2016) (concluding that “need to
22   avoid competitive disadvantage in contract negotiations and undercutting by competitors
23   is a compelling reason that justifies sealing”).
24            As the Court asked, Plaintiffs here have narrowly tailored this request to seal only
25   the bid details including specific pricing information that is competitively sensitive and
26   likely to harm Angeion Group if made readily available to the general public and
27   Angeion’s competitors.
28

                                                 2
                    PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
                                Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
           Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC          Document 249      Filed 09/25/24     Page 4 of 4




 1      III.      CONCLUSION
 2             For the reasons discussed above and in the supporting Declaration, Plaintiffs
 3   respectfully ask the Court to issue an order sealing the designated materials.
 4
     DATED: September 25, 2024                         Respectfully submitted,
 5
                                                       /s/ Andre M. Mura
 6
                                                       Andre M. Mura
 7
                                                       Andre M. Mura (SBN 298541)
 8                                                     Ezekiel S. Wald (SBN 341490)
 9                                                     GIBBS LAW GROUP LLP
                                                       1111 Broadway, Suite 2100
10                                                     Oakland, California 94607
11                                                     Telephone: (510) 350-9700
                                                       Facsimile: (510) 350-9701
12                                                     amm@classlawgroup.com
13                                                     zsw@classlawgroup.com

14                                                     Geoffrey A. Graber (SBN 211547)
15                                                     Karina G. Puttieva (SBN 317702)
                                                       COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL
16                                                     PLLC
                                                       1100 New York Ave. NW, Fifth Floor
17
                                                       Washington, DC 20005
18                                                     Telephone: (202) 408-4600
                                                       Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
19
                                                       ggraber@cohenmilstein.com
20                                                     kputtieva@cohenmilstein.com
21
                                                       Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Class
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

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                     PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
                                 Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW


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