Opinion
Civil Action No.: 4:12-cv-00922-RBH
01-06-2014
FUNCTIONAL PATHWAYS OF TENNESSEE, LLC, Plaintiff, v. WILSON SENIOR CARE, INC., f/k/a THE WILSON GROUP, INC., Defendant.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on the motion of Plaintiff Functional Pathways of Tennessee, LLC to file certain exhibits in support of its motion for partial summary judgment under seal. ECF No. 83. The Court has reviewed the filings submitted on this matter. In accordance with In re Knight Publishing Company, 743 F.2d 231 (4th Cir. 1984), the Court grants the motion to seal on a temporary basis. Because In re Knight requires the Court to provide public notice of a party's request to seal and allow interested parties an opportunity to object, this order temporarily grants the motion to seal until January 13, 2014. If in the interim period any interested party wishes to object to the permanent sealing of the documents at issue, that party may file a notice of appearance and state its objections. In the event any objections are filed, the Court will schedule a hearing on the motion to seal and hear the arguments of all parties. Should no objections be filed by January 13, 2014, the temporary order will automatically convert to a permanent order to seal.
The Court considered less drastic alternatives to sealing the requested documents. The Court finds that less drastic alternatives are not appropriate in this case, as the documents concern confidential financial information.
The Court finds persuasive the arguments of counsel in favor of sealing the documents and rejecting the alternatives. The documents contain confidential financial information. The Court notes that the litigants' interest in nondisclosure of such proprietary information outweighs the public's right to access to these documents. See May v. Medtronic Inc., No. CA 6:05-794-HMH, 2006 WL 1328765, *1 (D.S.C. May 15, 2006). The confidential and sensitive nature of the information in the documents at issue requires that the documents be sealed. Therefore, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's motion to seal (ECF No. 83) in accordance with the limitations stated herein.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
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R. Bryan Harwell
United States District Judge
Florence, South Carolina
January 6, 2014