Johnson v. California Forensic Medical Group, Inc. ( 2023 )

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 RANDALL SCOTT JOHNSON No. 2:19-cv-1722 JAM DB DECEASED, etc., et al., 12 Plaintiff, 13 ORDER 14 v. 15 CITY OF REDDING, et al., 16 Defendants. 17 18 On June 2, 2023, plaintiff filed a notice of request to file documents under seal. (ECF No. 19 197.) The documents are offered “in support of Plaintiff’s” argument related to the parties’ 20 pending discovery dispute, set for hearing before the undersigned on June 9, 2023. (Id. at 2.) In 21 evaluating requests to seal, the court starts “‘with a strong presumption in favor of access to court 22 records.’” Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1096 (9th Cir. 2016) 23 (quoting Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003)). “The 24 presumption of access is ‘based on the need for federal courts, although independent – indeed, 25 particularly because they are independent – to have a measure of accountability and for the public 26 to have confidence in the administration of justice.’” Id. (quoting United States v. Amodeo, 71 27 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir. 1995)). A request to seal material must normally meet the high 28 threshold of showing that “compelling reasons” support secrecy. Id. (citing Kamakana v. City 1 and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178 (9th Cir. 2006)). However, where the material is, 2 at most, “tangentially related to the merits of a case,” the request to seal may be granted on a 3 showing of “good cause.” Id. at 1097-1101. Moreover, Local Rule 141(b) requires, in relevant 4 part, that a “‘Request to Seal Documents’ shall set forth the statutory or other authority for 5 sealing, the requested duration, the identity, by name or category, of persons permitted access to 6 the documents, and all other relevant information.” 7 Here, the material sought to be filed under seal is tangentially related to the merits of the 8 case. And plaintiff’s brief establishes good cause for filing the documents under seal. In this 9 regard, the documents sought to be filed under seal concern evidence related to defendants’ 10 private financial information. 11 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 12 1. Plaintiff’s June 2, 2023 notice of request to seal (ECF No. 197) is granted; and 13 2. The Clerk of the Court shall file under seal: (1) the deposition transcript of the 14 Wellpath Defendants’ Controller and Vice President of Finance, and their designated 30(b)(6) 15 Person Most Knowledgeable on their financial condition, Tabitha Vanns; (2) excerpts of the 16 deposition transcripts of Wellpath’s forensic accounting and business valuation expert, Frank 17 Wisehart and Plaintiff’s forensic accounting expert, Annette Stalker; (3) Ms. Stalker’s expert 18 report; and (4) Mr. Wisehart’s rebuttal expert report.1 19 DATED: June 8, 2023 /s/ DEBORAH BARNES UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE 20 21 22 23 24 DLB:6 DB/orders/orders.civil/johnson1722.seal.ord 25 26 27 1 Counsel for plaintiff shall contact the Clerk of the Court to provide the documents to be filed 28 under seal.