Opinion
NO. CIV. S-06-2376 LKK/GGH.
December 14, 2010
ORDER
The court recently reviewed the sealed documents and motions to seal filed in this case. After conducting this review, the court noticed that many motions have only been tentatively granted and some were never ruled upon. The court also determined that many documents were not properly filed after the court ruled on the motions to seal. Specifically, some documents were filed under seal even though the court never found that they should be sealed and several sealed versions and redacted versions of the documents at issue were never filed. Thus, the court issues the following order to dispose of these issues.
A. Pending Motions to Seal
Pending before the court are several motions by defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers seeking to seal various documents filed in this case. This order concerns four of these motions, Doc. Nos. 128, 142, 147, and 174. On January 11, 2008, the court issued an order as to three of these four motions, Doc. Nos. 128, 142, and 147, tentatively granting defendant's requests to seal, "subject to further order of the court as . . . appropriate." Doc. No. 153. On March 7, 2008, the court issued an order tentatively granting the fourth motion to seal discussed in the instant order, also subject to further order of the court. Doc. No. 180.
After conducting a more thorough analysis, the court invites the parties to provide reasons why the court should not vacate the January 11, 2008 and March 7, 2008 orders and seal only the following:
The court assumes that the declaration of Joseph Hillsted is the same declaration defendant refers to as the "Declaration of Joe Hilstead in Support of Defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's Opposition To Plaintiffs' Motion For Class Certification."
The court assumes that the declaration of Irina Majstrovain is the same declaration defendant refers to as the "Declaration of Irina Majstrova in Support of Defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's Opposition To Plaintiffs' Motion For Class Certification."
The court assumes that the declaration of Carl Lee Overstreet is the same declaration defendant refers to as the "Declaration of Curtis Lee Overstreet in Support of Defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's Opposition To Plaintiffs' Motion For Class Certification."
The court assumes that the declaration of Gavin Wolf is the same declaration defendant refers to as the "Declaration of Gavin C. Wolfe in Support of Defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP's Opposition To Plaintiffs' Motion For Class Certification."
1. Sealed Document Missing
The court ordered the following documents permanently sealed in their entirety, but there is no sealed version on the docket. The court orders the party who filed the following documents to file a sealed version of each documents in the manner described below:
• PWC's Objection to Plaintiffs' Evidence submitted in support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on the Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 3/5/09 — Doc. No. 383). • PWC's Statement of Additional Facts Precluding MSJ on the Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 3/5/09 — Doc. No. 383). • PWC's Response to Plaintiff's Statement of Undisputed Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment on Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 3/5/09 — Doc. No. 383). • Declaration of Birgett Borgett in Support of PWC's Class Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • Declaration of Annie Kurosaki in Support of PWC's Class Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • PWC's Objection to Evidence Submitted in Support of Plaintiff's Opposition to PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/5/09 — Doc. No. 382). • PWC's Reply to Plaintiff's Response to PWC's Statement of Undisputed Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/5/09 — Doc. No. 382). 2. Sealed and Redacted Document MissingThe court ordered the following document sealed in part. No sealed version or redacted version appears on the docket. Thus, the party who filed the following document must file a sealed and a redacted version of the document in the manner described below:
• Declaration of Julie Totten in Support of PWC's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on (3/5/09 — Doc. No. 383). 3. Redacted Document MissingThe court ordered the following documents permanently sealed in part, however, no redacted versionsof the documents are filed on the docket. The court orders the party who filed the following documents to file a redacted version of each document in the manner described below:
• Plaintiff's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment on Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 10/17/08 — Doc. No. 252). • Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment on Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 10/17/08 — Doc. No. 252). • Declaration of William Kershaw in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on the Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 10/17/08 — Doc. No. 252). • Declaration of Norman C. Hile in Support of PWC's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment on Breach of Legal Duty (Doc. No. 468-6; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 443). • PWC's Statement of Additional Facts Precluding Motion for Summary Judgment on Breach of Legal Duty (Doc. No. 468-5; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 443). • PWC's Objections to Plaintiffs' Evidence Submitted in Support Of Motion for Summary Judgment on Breach of Legal Duty (Doc. No. 468-3; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 443). • Declaration of William Kershaw in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on Breach of Legal Duty (Doc. No. 274; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 443). • Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment on Breach of Legal Duty (Doc No. 272; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 443). • PWC's reponse to Plaintiffs' Statement of Undisputed Material Facts in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment on Breach of Legal Duty (Doc. No. 468-4; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 443). • Plaintiffs' Response to PWC's Objections to Evidence Submitted in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment on Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Doc. No. 290; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 445). • Plaintiffs' Reply to PWC's Opposition to Motion for Summary Judgment on Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Doc. No. 291; Ordered Sealed on 6/4/09 — Doc. No. 445). 4. Sealed Document Missing, Redacted Version FiledThe court ordered the following documents permanently sealed in part. There is a redacted version of these documents on the docket, but there are no sealed versions. The court orders the party who filed the following documents to file a sealed version of each document in the manner described below.
• PWC's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment on the Affirmative Defense of Exemption (Ordered Sealed on 3/5/09 — Doc. No. 383). • Declaration of Amber Benson in Support of PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • Declaration of James Clous in Support of PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • Declaration of Robert Mercado in Support of PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • Declaration of Michael Moomaw in Support of PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • Declaration of Melania Rappa in Support of PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). • Declaration of Carrie Schleicher in Support of PWC's Motion for Summary Judgment (Ordered Sealed on 3/4/09 — Doc. No. 380). C. Documents Filed Under Seal Without Court OrderSeveral documents were filed under seal without a motion to seal and any court order sealing them. As such, the court orders that these documents shall be unsealed unless a party moves to seal them within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of this order. Upon the court's receipt of such motion, if any, the court will determine whether sealing is appropriate. The relevant documents are the following:
• Declaration of Dr. Jon A. Krosnick in Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition to PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Motions for Summary Judgment (Filed on 11/20/08). • Plaintiffs' Motion to Exclude Testimony of Donna Dell Filed in Support of PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP's Motions for Summary Judgment (Filed on 11/20/08). • Plaintiffs' Motion to Exclude Testimony of Michael Moomaw, Ph.D. Filed in Support of PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP's Motions for Summary Judgment (Filed 11/20/08). D. CONCLUSIONThe court ORDERS the following:
(1) With respect to the pending motions to seal (Section A.), the parties MAY, within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of this order, file in writing an explanation as to why the court should deviate from the above proposal to vacate the orders of January 11, 2008, Doc. No. 153, and March 7, 2008, Doc. No. 180; grant in part defendant PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP's Motion to Seal Documents filed on December 10, 2007, Doc. No. 128 (amending Doc. Nos. 62 63) and Defendant's Ex Parte Motion to Seal Select Exhibits to the Declaration of Victoria R. Carradero in Support of Defendant's Motion for Class Certification; Objections to Evidence and Motion to Strike Evidence filed on December 13, 2007, Doc. No. 142; and grant in full defendant PricewaterhouseCooper LLP's Ex Parte Motion to Seal Its Corrected Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Class Certification filed on December 27, 2007, Doc. No. 147.
(2) With respect to the missing documents, the party who filed each document shall file the missing document within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of this order as described below:
Mail two compact discs ("CDs") to the Clerk of Court. The first CD should be labeled "Sealed Filings," and include complete PDF versions of all sealed documents identified in this order. The second CD should be labeled "Redacted Filings," and include redacted PDF versions of all sealed documents identified in this order. With each CD, the parties shall enclose a letter listing all the documents on each CD. This list shall include a short title for the document, the file name for the document, as saved on the CD, and the date upon which the document was initially filed. The CDs and the letters shall also include the case number and party name. Please direct any questions concerning the filing of the sealed documents to Ana Rivas, Courtroom Deputy, at (916) 930-4133.
(3) The documents listed in Section C shall be unsealed absent the filing of a motion to seal within fourteen (14) days of the issuance of this order. If such a motion is filed, the court will then determine whether these documents should be sealed.
(4) The court invites the parties to inform the court if any of its findings concerning the missing documents were in error. Such notices must be filed within seven (7) days of the issuance of this order.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: December 13, 2010.