Opinion
21-cv-1576 (ECT/DJF)
03-10-2023
Ian Olson, Plaintiff, v. Macalester College, Defendant.
ORDER
DULCE J. FOSTER, United States Magistrate Judge.
This matter is before the Court on the parties' joint motion (“Motion”) (ECF No. 102) to continue sealing Exhibits S and AG (ECF No. 99) in support of Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendant Macalester College's Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 95). The parties contemporaneously filed placeholders for the exhibits. (ECF No. 98.) The parties agree that the documents must remain under seal because they contain sensitive photographs, sensitive or private information from when Plaintiff was a minor, including education records, and personal messages of a nonparty (ECF No. 102).
A court will seal documents in a civil case “only as provided by statute or rule, or with leave of court.” L.R. 5.6(a)(1). “There is a common-law right of access to judicial records.” IDT Corp. v. eBay, 709 F.3d 1220, 1222-23 (8th Cir. 2013) (citing Nixon v. Warner Commc'ns, Inc., 435 U.S. 589, 597 (1978)). Notwithstanding, the right of access is not absolute and requires the court to balance the competing interests of public access against the legitimate interests of maintaining confidentiality of the information sought to be sealed. Id. at 1123. Having carefully reviewed the documents at issue, the Court finds good cause to grant the parties' Motion.
ORDER
Based on the foregoing, and on all of the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the parties' joint motion for continued sealing (ECF No. [102]) is GRANTED as follows:
1. The Clerk is directed to keep ECF No. [99] under seal.