Wealthy Inc. v. Cornelia ( 2023 )

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 2 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 3 * * * 4 WEALTHY INC. and DALE BUCZKOWSKI, Case No. 2:21-cv-01173-JCM-EJY 5 Plaintiffs, ORDER 6 v. 7 SPENCER CORNELIA, CORNELIA MEDIA LLC, and CORNELIA EDUCATION LLC, 8 Defendants. 9 WEALTHY INC. and DALE BUCZKOWSKI, Consolidated with 10 Case No. 2:22-cv-00740-JCM-EJY Plaintiffs, 11 v. 12 JOHN MULVEHILL, JOHN ANTHONY 13 LIFESTYLE, LLC, and OPTIMIZED LIFESTYLE LLC, 14 Defendants. 15 16 Pending before the Court is Defendants John Mulvehill and John Anthony Lifestyle, LLC’s 17 Motion to File Under Seal Exhibits 7, 9, 18, and 19 in Support of their Opposition to Plaintiffs’ 18 Motion for Partial Summary Judgement (ECF No. 205). 19 As the party seeking to seal a judicial record, Plaintiffs must meet their burden of overcoming 20 the strong presumption in favor of access and public policies favoring disclosure. Kamakana v. City 21 and Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178-79 (9th Cir. 2006) (holding that those who seek to 22 maintain the secrecy of documents attached to dispositive motions must meet the high threshold of 23 showing that “compelling reasons” support secrecy). The mere fact that the production of records 24 may lead to a party’s embarrassment, incrimination or exposure to further litigation will not alone 25 compel the court to seal its records. Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1136 26 (9th Cir. 2003). Compelling reasons require a demonstration of something more, such as when court 27 files have become a vehicle for improper purposes, including use of records to gratify private spite, 1 Commc’ns, 435 U.S. 589, 598 (1978). Where a party seeks to seal documents attached to a non- 2 dispositive motion, the “public policies that support the right of access to dispositive motions … do 3 not apply with equal force … .” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1178-1179 (citation omitted) (holding that 4 those who seek to maintain the secrecy of documents attached to non-dispositive motions must 5 demonstrate “good cause” supporting secrecy); see also Phillips ex. rel. Estates of Byrd v. General 6 Motors Corp, 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002) (“For good cause to exist, the party seeking 7 protection bears the burden of showing specific prejudice or harm will result if no protective order 8 is granted.”). Ultimately, the Court must “conscientiously balance[] the competing interests of the 9 public and the party who seeks to keep certain judicial records secret.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 10 (quoting Foltz, 331 F.3d at 1135) (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). 11 Plaintiffs have met their burden. 12 The Court’s review of Exhibits 7, 9, and 18 shows the contents are such that public disclosure 13 would provide personal confidential information that is properly sealed. With respect to Exhibit 19, 14 the Court received an ex parte call to chambers on the morning of April 11, 2023 from Defendants’ 15 counsel’s office. The Court was asked if Exhibit 19 could be emailed and was simultaneously 16 informed that the contents of Exhibit 19 is a “YouTube” video. The Court instructed counsel’s office 17 to manually file and serve the Exhibit, which has now been done. The Court does not understand 18 how a YouTube video would be either confidential or proprietary. No explanation is offered by 19 Defendants in the Motion to Seal. 20 Accordingly, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants John Mulvehill and John Anthony 21 Lifestyle, LLC’s Motion to File Under Seal Exhibits 7, 9, 18, and 19 in Support of Defendants John 22 Mulvehill and John Anthony Lifestyle, LLC’s Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Partial Summary 23 Judgement (ECF No. 205) is GRANTED in part and DENIED without prejudice in part. 24 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Exhibits 7, 9, and 18 filed under seal at ECF No. 205 are 25 and shall remain sealed. 26 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Exhibit 19 is provisionally sealed. One or both parties 27 may, no later than April 18, 2023, file a succinct explanation of whether and why Exhibit 19 is 1 || properly sealed. If no further information is provided, the Court will place Exhibit 19 on the publ 2 || docket. 3 Dated this 11th day of April, 2023. 4 : 5 Bavagh you 1 on JUDGE 7 9 10 1] 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28