Opinion
Case No. 2:17-CV-01025-JAM-AC
04-13-2020
JIMMY DAVID RAMIREZ-CASTELLANOS and FRANCISCO JAVIER GOMEZ ESPINOZA, Plaintiffs, v. NUGGET MARKET, INC. DBA NUGGET MARKETS and ONE STOP SERVICES DBA ONE STOP SOLUTION, ISSA QUARRA, and BUILDING MAINTENANCE GROUP, Defendants.
ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' REQUEST TO SEAL EXPERT PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION REPORTS AND EXPERT TESTIMONY FILED IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS' OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT NUGGET MARKET, INC.'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
Having reviewed Plaintiffs' Request to Seal their expert's psychological evaluation reports and excerpts of Plaintiffs' expert deposition transcript and any references thereto in Plaintiffs' Response to Defendant Nugget's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts and Plaintiffs Additional Material Facts, the Court finds that there is a compelling interest in protecting Plaintiffs' sensitive and personal mental health information and GRANTS Plaintiffs' request. Sealing is necessary to protect Plaintiffs' confidential and personal medical and health information.
Persons entitled to access the confidential documents filed under seal is limited to Defendants Nugget Markets, Inc., Issa Quarra, One Stop Services, and Building Maintenance Group, its attorneys or agents, Plaintiffs and their attorneys or agents, and officers and employees of this Court.
The Court further ORDERS that the following documents be filed under seal indefinitely:
1. Psychological Evaluation Final Reports of Jimmy David Ramirez- Castellanos and Francisco Javier Gomez Espinoza by Plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Ricardo Winkel, attached as Exhibit 31 to the Declaration of Tanya G. Pellegrini In Support of Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendant Nugget Market, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment, or in the Alternative, Summary Adjudication of Issues ("Declaration of Tanya Pellegrini");
2. Excerpts from the deposition of Dr. Ricardo Winkel, taken on September 13, 208, attached as Exhibit 30 to the Declaration of Tanya Pellegrini;
3. Any references Dr. Winkel's report in Plaintiffs' Memorandum of Points and Authorities in support of their Opposition to Defendant Nugget Market, Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment, specifically: Page 16, lines 13-24 and Page 17, lines 1-3;
4. Any references in Plaintiffs' Response to Defendant Nugget's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts and Plaintiffs' Additional Material Facts to Exhibits 30 and 31 to the Declaration of Tanya Pellegrini. Specifically, the following pages and facts:
a. Plaintiffs' Additional Fact ("PAF") Fact 63. Since being exposed to the harassment at the Store, Gomez Espinoza is constantly on edge and depressed, and has developed severe and frequent headaches, difficulties sleeping, nearly constant sadness, persecutory nightmares, gained weight, lost of libido and interest in intimacy with his wife, feels constantly fatigued, suffers from chest pains, and abuses alcohol.
b. PAF 64. As a result of the harassment and discrimination, Gomez Espinoza currently suffers from alcohol abuse and dependency, generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
c. PAF 104. Since being exposed to the harassment at the Store, Plaintiff Ramirez-Castellanos is constantly on in fear that his employers will retaliate against him, he stopped exercising and practicing karate, suffers from anxiety, and began to abuse alcohol.
d. PAF 105. As a result of the harassment and discrimination, Ramirez-Castellanos currently suffers from alcohol addiction and dependency, anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
e. PAF 128. Plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Ricardo Winkel, found that "the relentless onslaught on [Ramirez-Castellanos's] tenuously held sense of self-regard and dignity, which were unavoidably intertwined with the facts of his ethnic and national origin," "brought back and exacerbated his old sense of inadequacy, rekindled his sense of helplessness and severely undermined his hard-fought belief in his ability to function competently. As a subordinate who exclusively depended on limited income and with no say about the abusive behavior of those with more power and authority, he experienced a severe regression in his psychological functioning to a state of vulnerability, loss, grief and helplessness."
f. PAF 129. Dr. Winkel also found that Espinoza "could not tolerate the abusive environment that had been engulfing him [at the store]. [. . .] He reported that it became increasingly difficult for him to work in an environment where he was under attack on account of his national and ethnic background and that his sustained distress was compounded and became intolerable when the management failed to promptly and effectively correct that situation.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: 4/13/2020
/s/ John A. Mendez
Hon. John A. Mendez
United States District Court Judge