Krause v. Sunrise Family Resource Center ( 2019 )

Krause v. Sunrise Family Resource Center, 52-2-18 Bncv (Barra, J., Apr. 29, 2019)
[The text of this Vermont trial court opinion is unofficial. It has been reformatted from the original. The accuracy of the text and the
accompanying data included in the Vermont trial court opinion database is not guaranteed.]
STATE OF VERMONT
SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL DIVISION
Bennington Unit Docket No. 52-2-18 Bncv
Carri Radcliffe Krause,
Plaintiff
v. DECISION ON MOTION
Sunrise Family Resource Center,
Defendant
This matter is before the court on Defendant’s Motion to Seal the Motion for Summary
Judgment and Related Exhibits. Defendant requests the documents sealed under § 7 of the
Vermont Rules for Public Access to Court Records. Some of the exhibits contain Plaintiff’s
medical and mental health records and the Motion for Summary Judgment contains references to,
and quotations from, those records. Plaintiff has filed no submission in response to the motion,
nor has she sought to seal any records in this case.
The Public Access Rules establish a general policy that, except for information
specifically exempted, “[t]he public shall have access to all case records.” V.R.P.A.C.R. § 6(a);
Shahi v. Ascend Fin. Servs., Inc., 2006 VT 29, ¶ 17, 179 Vt. 434, 442 (2006); see also
V.R.P.A.C.R. § 4 (“Except as provided in these rules, all case and administrative records of the
Judicial Branch shall be open to any member of the public for inspection or to obtain copies.”).
The Supreme Court, moreover, has identified a presumptive right on the part of the public to
examine court records. See, e.g., In re Sealed Documents, 172 Vt. 152, 160 (2001); State v.
Tallman, 148 Vt. 465, 474 (1987). Specific documents exempted from public access include
“[r]ecords created as a result of treatment, diagnosis, or examination of a patient by a physician,
dentist, nurse or mental health professional.” V.R.P.A.C.R. § 6(b)(17). Under § 7(a) of the
Public Access Rules, the court “may seal from public access a record to which the public
otherwise has access.” Id. § 7(a). Such an order can only be issued after observance of certain
procedural safeguards and “upon a finding of good cause specific to the case before the judge
and exceptional circumstances.” Id.
As an initial matter, some of the information Defendant wishes to seal is already
exempted from public access under V.R.P.A.C.R. § 6(b)(17) (exempting from public access
“[r]ecords created as a result of treatment, diagnosis, or examination of a patient by a physician,
dentist, nurse or mental health professional”). Such records include numerous exhibits attached
to the Motion for Summary Judgment. Thus, the remaining documents at issue are the Motion
for Summary Judgment itself and other exhibits that do not meet the § 6(b)(17) exemption.
These other documents are not “[r]ecords created as a result of treatment, diagnosis, or
examination of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse or mental health professional.”
Accordingly, they are not exempted from public access and may be subject to a § 7(a) order to
seal. However, in this case, the Motion to Seal must be denied because Defendant has failed to
satisfy the good-cause and exceptional-circumstances requirements of § 7(a). Defendant did not
address these requirements in the motion. Moreover, Plaintiff, whose private information is at
stake, has not sought to seal the records. Thus, there is no good cause, and no exceptional
circumstances warrant granting the motion. Accordingly, the Motion to Seal is DENIED.
So ordered.
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