Beaver v. Omni Hotels Management Corporation
- Proceeding
- district
- Area
- civil
- Panel
- Anthony J. Battaglia (author)
Analysis
Plaintiffs moved to seal specific portions of exhibits containing class members' personal addresses, and Defendants did not oppose the motion. The Court granted the motion, finding that the personal nature of the information provided compelling reasons to override the presumption of public access.
| What the court decided | The model |
|---|---|
Plaintiffs' Motion to Seal (Doc. No. 151) is GRANTED.“Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ motion to seal is GRANTED. (Doc. No. 151.)” | agree with court The court correctly applied the Ninth Circuit's standard for sealing court records, which requires 'compelling reasons' to overcome the strong presumption of public access. The court identified the specific information to be sealed (personal addresses) and noted that it was not relevant to the pending summary judgment motions. This aligns with the precedent set in Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, which recognized that personal information such as home addresses meets the compelling reason standard. |
The order itself: sound — The order is procedurally correct and relies on the appropriate Ninth Circuit precedent for sealing motions. It clearly states the standard, applies it to the specific facts (personal addresses not relevant to pending motions), and cites a directly analogous case. The reasoning is concise but sufficient for a non-opposed motion to seal.
Opinion
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 DEAN BEAVER and LAURIE BEAVER, Case No.: 20-cv-00191-AJB-DEB 12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO SEAL 13 v. 14 (Doc. No. 151) Omni Hotels Management Corporation, a 15 Delaware Corporation; LC BROKERAGE 16 CORP., a Delaware Corporation; LC INVESTMENT 2010, LLC, a Delaware 17 Limited Liability Company; WILLIAM 18 IMS, an individual; KELLY GINSBERG, an individual; BRETT ALEXANDER 19 COMBS, an individual; and DOES 1 20 through 50, inclusive, 21 Defendants. 22 23 Before the Court is a renewed motion to seal Exhibits 38 through 421 filed by 24 Plaintiffs, Dean Beaver and Laurie Beaver, and the Class. (Doc. No. 151.) Defendants do 25 not oppose the motion. (Doc. No. 155.) For the reasons set forth below, the Court 26 GRANTS the motion to seal. 27 28 1 Relevant here, while there is “a strong presumption in favor of access to court 2 ||records,” it “is not absolute and can be overridden given sufficiently compelling reasons 3 || for doing so.” Foltz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 331 F.3d 1122, 1135 (9th Cir. 2003). 4 ||Having reviewed the motion and declaration in support of sealing, the Court finds 5 || compelling reasons to grant the motion. Through their renewed motion, Plaintiffs address 6 || the issues the Court identified when it denied their earlier motion to seal, including that the 7 request was overbroad and lacked a supporting declaration. Now, Plaintiffs have filed an 8 accompanying declaration and seek to seal only portions of Exhibits 38 through 42, which 9 ||are documents reflecting “all owner statements of Class members at the Omni La Costa 10 || Resort and Spa during the Class period.” (Doc. No. 150 at 2.) Plaintiffs redacted from these 11 |;exhibits only the personal addresses of each Class member that appear on the upper 12 || left-hand corner of the owner statements. (/d.) 13 Considering the limited and personal nature of the information sought to be sealed 14 its lack of import on the pending motions for summary judgment and motions to 15 || exclude experts, the Court finds compelling reasons justify this narrow request for sealing. 16 || See, e.g., Kamakana v. City & Cnty. of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1182 (9th Cir. 2006) 17 ||(noting with approval the magistrate judge’s finding “that the personal information of 18 |}Kamakana and various law enforcement officers (home addresses and social security 19 ||numbers) met the ‘compelling reason’ standard.”). 20 Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ motion to seal is GRANTED. (Doc. No. 151.) The Clerk of 21 Court is DIRECTED to file as sealed the documents lodged at Doc. No. 152. 22 IT IS SO ORDERED. 23 || Dated: June 8, 2025 © 24 Hon, Anthony J.Battaglia 25 United States District Judge 26 27 28 2 nn ANnANnAT □□□□□□□□□□