In re: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
- Jesse Furman
- 1:16-cv-00740
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In re: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company: Judge Furman granted a sealing request, subject to reconsideration if a party or third party seeks unsealing.
The ruling affects absent class members whose identifying information or policy information appears in the materials, as well as Class Counsel, AXA, and securities intermediaries that produced related information.
What happened
In re: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company involved Class Counsel’s request to keep certain settlement-related filings and exhibits sealed. The materials included information identifying final class members and the policies they owned.
The court granted the application. It allowed reconsideration if a party or third party files a motion to unseal particular documents, and directed the Clerk to terminate ECF No. 742.
Judge Furman issued the order on June 3, 2024. The order concerns confidentiality and privacy protections for absent class members and information produced by securities intermediaries.
The detailed version
- In re: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company · No. 1:16-cv-00740
- Jesse Furman
- June 3, 2024
Background
Class Counsel asked the court to seal materials connected to a motion seeking authorization for additional steps to allocate class-action settlement funds. The request covered a memorandum of law, a declaration, a proposed order, and Exhibits 1 through 8.
The memorandum, declaration, and proposed order contained redactions, while Exhibits 1 through 8 were submitted for complete sealing. According to the request, the materials included confidential information identifying Final Class Members and the policies they owned. AXA had designated some of the information confidential under a protective order, and securities intermediaries had produced identifying information about Substituted Illustration Class Members in response to court-authorized subpoenas.
Ruling
The court granted the application to seal. The grant was subject to reconsideration if a party or third party files a motion to unseal a particular document or documents. The Clerk was directed to terminate ECF No. 742.
Effect
The ruling permits the specified settlement-related materials to remain sealed for now. It preserves a mechanism for a party or third party to ask the court to unseal particular documents. The stated interests supporting sealing were the privacy and confidentiality interests of absent class members.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.