Court filing
Administrative Motion to File Under Seal filed by Cat Brooks,… — Brooks v. Thomson Reuters Corporation (Dkt. 272)
No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC · Doc. 272 · Docket on CourtListener
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Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 272 Filed 01/09/25 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, Suite 800
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
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12 Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Class
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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
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MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
20 Plaintiffs,
v. Judge: Hon. Edward M. Chen
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22 THOMSON REUTERS CORPORATION,
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Defendant.
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION TO FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 272 Filed 01/09/25 Page 2 of 4
1 Plaintiffs move pursuant to Civil Local Rules 7-11 and 79-5(c) to seal narrow
2 portions of (1) an exhibit to the Declaration of Andre Mura and Geoffrey Graber in Support
3 of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Final Approval (“Co-Lead Counsel Decl.”); and (2) the Declaration
4 of Steven Weisbrot in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Final Approval (“Weisbrot Decl.”);
5 because they include proprietary details about settlement administrator Angeion Group’s
6 fraud detection and prevention efforts, or a class member’s name and email address.
7 As required by Civil Local Rules 79-5(c) and 7-11(a), Plaintiffs simultaneously
8 submit (1) the declaration of Andre M. Mura in support of Plaintiffs’ Administrative
9 Motion to File Under Seal (“Mura Decl.”); (2) an unredacted version of the supporting
10 declarations (and exhibits thereto), highlighted to indicate the proposed redactions; and (3)
11 a proposed order identifying the portions to be sealed.
12 I. LEGAL STANDARD
13 There is a “strong presumption in favor of access” to court records, but “access to
14 judicial records is not absolute.” Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178
15 (9th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted). The legal standard applicable to whether a document
16 should be sealed depends on whether the document is attached to a dispositive motion or a
17 non-dispositive motion. See id. at 1179-80. Documents attached to dispositive motions may
18 be sealed only when the proponent establishes “compelling reasons” for doing so. Id. at
19 1179. Documents attached to non-dispositive motions that relate to the merits only
20 tangentially may be sealed upon a lesser showing of good cause. Id. at 1180. Motions to file
21 under seal connected to approval of class action settlements are subject to the “compelling
22 reasons” standard. Thomas v. MagnaChip Semiconductor Corp., No. 14-CV-01160-JST, 2017
23 WL 4750628, at *4 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 20, 2017); In re Yahoo! Inc. Sec. Litig., No. 17-CV-00373-
24 LHK, 2018 WL 11349976, at *2 (N.D. Cal. May 9, 2018).
25 What reasons are sufficiently compelling to justify sealing documents is generally
26 “left to the sound discretion of the trial court.” Ctr. For Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809
27 F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir. 2016). Commonly accepted examples of sealable materials,
28 however, are “business information that might harm a litigant’s competitive standing,”
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 272 Filed 01/09/25 Page 3 of 4
1 Nixon v. Warner Commc’ns, Inc., 435 U.S.589, 598 (1978), and fraud prevention and detection
2 procedures. In re Bank of Am. California Unemployment Benefits Litig., No. 21MD2992-
3 GPC(MSB), 2024 WL 4820704, at *4 (S.D. Cal. Nov. 12, 2024). Courts also permit the
4 redaction of “the name[s] of the class member[s] . . . to protect th[ose] individual[s’] privacy
5 interests[,]” O’Connor v. Uber Techs., Inc., No. 13-CV-03826-EMC, 2017 WL 6504064, at *2
6 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 6, 2017) (Chen, J.), along with identifying contact information such as an
7 email address. E.g., Fraley ex rel. Duval v. Facebook, Inc., No. CV-11-01726 RS, 2012 WL
8 6013427, at *3 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 3, 2012). The information that Plaintiffs seek to seal here falls
9 into these categories.
10 II. ARGUMENT
11 Plaintiffs seek to file under seal only (1) the name and email address of a class
12 member who reached out to Class Counsel asking to address the court; and (2) proprietary
13 information about Angeion’s fraud detection and prevention methods. There are
14 compelling reasons to seal the identifying information (including the name and email
15 address) of a class member seeking assistance with filing a claim, so as to protect the
16 privacy of that class member. O’Connor, 2017 WL 6504064, at *2 (Chen, J.) (sealing the name
17 of a class member); Fraley, 2012 WL 6013427, at *3 (sealing the email address of class
18 members). And there are compelling reasons to seal Angeion’s proprietary fraud
19 prevention processes, in order to prevent and combat future fraud. In re Bank of Am., 2024
20 WL 4820704, at *4 (“[I]nternal investigative processes and procedures in addressing fraud
21 constitute compelling reasons that support sealing those documents in order to prevent
22 and combat future fraud.”).
23 Plaintiffs here have narrowly tailored this request to seal only the specific
24 proprietary information that is competitively sensitive and designed to prevent fraud, and
25 personal identifying information of a class member.
26 III. CONCLUSION
27 For the reasons discussed above and in the supporting Declaration, Plaintiffs
28 respectfully ask the Court to issue an order sealing the designated materials.
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
Case 3:21-cv-01418-EMC Document 272 Filed 01/09/25 Page 4 of 4
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2 DATED: January 9, 2025 Respectfully submitted,
3 /s/ Andre M. Mura
Andre M. Mura
4
5 Andre M. Mura (SBN 298541)
Ezekiel S. Wald (SBN 341490)
6 GIBBS LAW GROUP LLP
7 1111 Broadway, Suite 2100
Oakland, California 94607
8 Telephone: (510) 350-9700
9 Facsimile: (510) 350-9701
amm@classlawgroup.com
10 zsw@classlawgroup.com
11
Geoffrey A. Graber (SBN 211547)
12 Karina G. Puttieva (SBN 317702)
13 COHEN MILSTEIN SELLERS & TOLL
PLLC
14 1100 New York Ave. NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20005
15
Telephone: (202) 408-4600
16 Facsimile: (202) 408-4699
ggraber@cohenmilstein.com
17
kputtieva@cohenmilstein.com
18
Attorneys for Plaintiffs and the Certified Class
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PLAINTIFFS’ ADMINISTRATIVE MOTION FILE UNDER SEAL
Case No. 3:21-cv-01418-EMC-KAW
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