Opinion
7:20-cv-00248-FL
11-08-2022
MARY TOWANDA WEBSTER-REED, et al., Plaintiffs, v. SCOTT ANTHONY COLLINS, Defendant.
ORDER
LOUISE W. FLANAGAN, United States District Judge
This matter comes before the Court on Plaintiffs' Motion to Seal Unredacted Trust Agreements. The Court finds the motion is supported by good cause.
As part of the parties' settlement, which has been submitted for the Court's approval, K.W. and B.W. have filed motions to create trusts, which will receive portions of the settlement funds to be used for the benefit of each minor.
The unredacted versions of the Trust Agreements-both those filed by the Plaintiffs and those executed by the Court-should be sealed because they contain the minors' full names. The public disclosure of the minors' full names is particularly inappropriate here because the minors are receiving significant sums of money under the parties' settlement and their financial information should not be made public.
The privacy interests of the minors are sufficient to overcome the common law and First Amendment rights of access. See Mears v. Atl. Se. Airlines, Inc., No. 5:12-cv-613-F, 2014 WL 5018907, at *3-*4 (E.D. N.C. Oct. 7, 2014); Sahoo v. Gleaton, No. 5:16-cv-153-F, 2017 WL 353971, at *2 (E.D. N.C. Jan. 24, 2017).
It is therefore ORDERED that the unredacted versions of the Trust Agreements for K.W. and B.W., both those filed by the Plaintiffs and those executed by the Court, shall be placed and maintained under seal.