Opinion
Civil Action CV-20-237
12-20-2021
BARNET SKOLNIK, et al., Plaintiffs v. GILBERT DOUGHTY, et al., Defendants
ORDER
Thomas D, Warren Justice
In connection with its motion for summary judgment, defendant Choices Are For Everyone Inc. has filed a motion to seal exhibits A-E to the affidavit of Jessica Grouse because those exhibits are from Gilbert Doughty's personnel file, The motion is unopposed.
Ordinarily the court does not favor sealing documents that are part of the basis of a motion for summary judgment because court proceedings are presumptively public and because the court should not be making decisions on a secret or partially secret record. In this instance, however, plaintiffs have not disputed any of the factual assertions based on documents in the personnel file that are contained in the Rule 56(h)(2) statement filed by Choices Are For Everyone. That Rule 56(h)(2) statement is a matter of public record and therefore all of the information (absent the underlying documents) is in the public record*
For this reason, the court will grant the motion to seal. This order shall remain in effect pending further order of the court At a minimum it appears to the court that if this case goes to trial, the documents might end up getting unsealed in order to be offered in evidence, but that issue can wait
The entry shall be:
The motion by defendant Choices Are For Everyone Inc. to seal exhibits A-E to the affidavit of Jessica Crouse is granted pending further order of the court. The clerk is directed to incorporate this order in the docket by reference pursuant to Rule 79(a).