Opinion
Civil Action 4:22-cv-154-MPM-DAS
11-06-2023
EVELYN FAYE GILMORE, Plaintiff, v. DOLGENCORP, LLC, d/b/a DOLLAR GENERAL, Defendant.
ORDER GRANTING UNOPPOSED MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE EXHIBIT UNDER SEAL
MICHAEL P. MILLS UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT JUDGE
Before the Court is Defendant Dolgencorp, LLC d/b/a Dollar General's (“Dollar General”) Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Exhibit Under Seal. Dollar General requests that an unredacted version of Exhibit K to its Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. No. 32-11) be placed under seal from access by the public. In support of its Motion for Summary Judgment, Dollar General attached as Exhibit K a redacted declaration from Human Resources Director Joi Bass that contains the dates of birth of Plaintiff and employees not a party to this case. Dollar General requests that the unredacted version of this exhibit be placed under seal.
Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2, electronic filings that contain birth dates may only contain the year of an individual's birth. Similarly, the Court's Administrative Procedures for Electronic Case Filing direct counsel to “refrain from including,” or “partially redact where inclusion is necessary and relevant to the case,” an individual's date of birth. Admin. Procedures for Elect. Case Filing IX(4).
Rule 79 of the Local Civil Rules provides that no document may be filed under seal without a court order. L.U.Civ.R. 79(b). The decision whether to order judicial records seal is committed to the sound discretion of the district court, which must “balance the public's common-law right of access against the interests favoring nondisclosure.” SEC v. Van Waeyenberghe, 990 F.2d 845, 848 (5th Cir. 1993). In doing so, the court must apply a “presumption in favor of the public's common law right of access.” Id. at 849.
In the interest of protecting Plaintiff's and other individuals' personal information, Dollar General's Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Exhibit Under Leave is GRANTED.
SO ORDERED.