Ness v. La. Health Serv. & Indem. Co.

Full title: CANDY NESS v. LOUISIANA HEALTH SERVICE & INDEMNITY CO

Court: UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA LAFAYETTE DIVISION

Date published: Jun 26, 2014

CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:13CV2136 (W.D. La. Jun. 26, 2014)

Opinion

CIVIL ACTION NO. 6:13CV2136

06-26-2014

CANDY NESS v. LOUISIANA HEALTH SERVICE & INDEMNITY CO

REBECCA F. DOHERTY

JUDGE DOHERTY

MAGISTRATE JUDGE HILL

RULING & ORDER

Defendant Louisiana Health Service & Indemnity Company d/b/a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has submitted a motion to file documents under seal, whereby defendant "moves that the attachments to its Motion for Summary Judgment [i.e., a memorandum in support, statement of uncontested facts, and two affidavits] be filed under seal," arguing the foregoing documents "contain numerous instances of personal health information and personal identifying information of Plaintiff . . . ." [Doc. 15, p. 1] Defendant further asserts, "Redaction of all instances of this information, and the development/use of a redaction index, would be burdensome for all parties and this Honorable Court." [Id.] For the following reasons, the motion is DENIED IN PART and GRANTED IN PART.

After a review of the identified documents, the only information the Court has located which, perhaps, requires redaction is the use of a minor's name, rather than her initials. (Of course, this assumes the plaintiff's daughter is a minor.) See F.R.C.P. 5.2(a); LR 5.7.12. The Court has located seven instances where plaintiff's daughter is identified by name. If indeed plaintiff's daughter is a minor, the Court finds use of her initials, rather than her full name, would not be burdensome, nor would it require a redaction index.

In light of the foregoing, as it is unclear whether or not plaintiff's daughter is a minor, the Clerk of Court is INSTRUCTED to maintain Doc. Nos. 15, 15-1, 15-2, 15-3, 15-4, and 15-5 UNDER SEAL at this time.

Within seven (7) days of issuance of this Ruling and Order, defendant is to either: (1) advise the Court that plaintiff's daughter is not a minor (in which case the Court will unseal the foregoing documents); or (2) file a redacted version of the foregoing documents for the public record. See F.R.C.P. 5.2(d).

THUS DONE AND SIGNED in Chambers, Lafayette, Louisiana, this 26 day of June, 2014.

__________

REBECCA F. DOHERTY

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE