Doe v. The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company ( 2022 )

1 HON. RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 11 12 JANE DOE, Case No. C22-491RSM 13 Plaintiff STIPULATED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO 14 v. FILE “ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD” UNDER SEAL AND ORDER 15 LINCOLN NATIONAL LIFE 16 INSURANCE COMPANY, NOTED FOR HEARING: May 24, 2022 17 Defendant. 18 19 I. Relief Requested 20 The parties respectfully move the Court, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 21 5.2(d) and Local Civil Rule 5(g), to order that the “Administrative Record” in this action – the 22 23 defendant insurance company’s claim file – be filed under seal, without redactions. 24 II. Relevant Facts and Legal Authority 25 This action arises under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 26 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. The parties agree the Court will need to consider Defendant’s claim file 27 STIPULATED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RECORD 1 to resolve the matter. Such files have come to be called the “Administrative Record” in ERISA 2 benefit cases. Here, that file is primarily medical records and other documents addressing 3 Plaintiff’s medical condition. 4 Although Local Civil Rule 5(g) establishes a strong presumption in favor of public access 5 to court filings, the need to protect medical privacy qualifies as a “compelling reason” to allow 6 7 records to be filed under seal. Karpenski v. Am. Gen. Life Companies, LLC, No. 2:12-CV- 8 01569-RSM, 2013 WL 5588312 at *1 (W.D. Wash. Oct. 9, 2013) (citing Kamakana v. City and 9 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1179 (9th Cir. 2006)). See also Macon v. United Parcel 10 Serv., Inc., No. C12-260 RAJ, 2013 WL 951013, at *5 (W.D. Wash. Mar. 12, 2013) (granting 11 unopposed motion to seal medical records given the “private nature of the documents at issue”); 12 Gary v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am., No. 3:17-CV-01414-HZ, 2018 WL 1811470, at *3 (D. Or. 13 Apr. 17, 2018) (“[t]he parties have not presented, and the Court is not aware of, any cases where 14 15 medical information was not allowed to be filed under seal under the ‘compelling reasons’ 16 standard.”). 17 Local Civil Rule 5.2(c) states that “in an action for benefits under the Social Security 18 Act” the “administrative record must be filed under seal” because those “actions are entitled to 19 special treatment due to the prevalence of sensitive information and the volume of filings.” Id. 20 That reasoning applies to this action. Sensitive information is found throughout the claim file. 21 As certified below, the parties discussed whether redaction would be a suitable 22 23 alternative. Due to the volume of the record, and the extensive redaction that would be 24 necessary, the parties believe redaction is not a reasonable alternative. Federal Rule of Civil 25 Procedure 5(d) provides that the “court may order that a filing be made under seal without 26 redaction” and the parties respectfully move the Court to so order here. 27 STIPULATED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RECORD 1 III. Local Rule 5.2(g)(3)(A) Certification 2 The parties certify pursuant to Local Rule 5.2(g)(3)(A) that attorneys for both parties 3 conferred by telephone on May 23, 2022, to discuss filing the record under seal and to explore 4 redaction and other alternatives to filing under seal. They agreed redaction was not a reasonable 5 means to protect Plaintiff’s medical privacy, because the documents would need to be so 6 7 extensively redacted. 8 IV. Conclusion 9 The parties respectfully move the Court to order that the “Administrative Record” in this 10 action be filed under seal, without redaction. 11 RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED this 24th day of May 2022. 12 13 LAW OFFICE OF MEL CRAWFORD 14 15 16 By s/Mel Crawford Mel Crawford, WSBA # 22930 17 melcrawford@melcrawfordlaw.com Attorney for Plaintiff 18 19 OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK & STEWART, P.C. 20 21 By: s/Russell S. Buhite Russell S. Buhite, WSBA #41257 22 Russell.Buhite@ogletree.com 23 By: s/Bensy Benjamin 24 Bensy Benjamin, WSBA #53842 Bensy.Benjamin@ogletree.com 25 Attorneys for Defendant Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. 26 27 STIPULATED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RECORD 1 ORDER 2 3 IT IS SO ORDERED. The Court GRANTS the parties’ stipulated motion and ORDERS 4 that the administrative record in this action be filed and maintained under seal. Pursuant to 5 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5(d), the record need not be redacted. 6 DATED this 8th day of June, 2022. 7 8 9 A 10 RICARDO S. MARTINEZ 11 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 STIPULATED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE RECORD