In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation
- Jesse Furman
- 1:22-cv-10667
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Sites v. The Laundress, LLC, Judge Furman granted the parties’ request to redact settlement amounts from court filings.
Plaintiffs Ashley Sites and Gabriel Yibale, the Estate of Elliana Diem Yibale, Defendant The Laundress, LLC, their counsel, and members of the public seeking access to the settlement amounts.
What happened
In re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation involves a settlement between Plaintiffs Ashley Sites and Gabriel Yibale, acting for the Estate of Elliana Diem Yibale, and The Laundress, LLC. The parties asked to hide the settlement amounts in papers supporting a request to settle the case.
The parties said the case was consolidated, involved more than ten plaintiffs, and concerned the laws of at least seven states. They argued that keeping the amounts confidential would support settlement efforts and that the proposed redactions were limited to those amounts. The defendant did not oppose the request.
Judge Jesse M. Furman granted the request. He directed counsel to file the unredacted documents electronically with access restricted to the court and the parties, and directed the Clerk to terminate one docket entry and record the order in both related cases.
The detailed version
- In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation · No. 1:22-cv-10667
- Jesse Furman
- Apr. 18, 2025
Background
Plaintiffs Ashley Sites and Gabriel Yibale, acting as administrators and administrators ad prosequendum for the Estate of Elliana Diem Yibale, and Defendant The Laundress, LLC, reported that they had finalized a settlement resolving their claims in the related matter Sites v. The Laundress, LLC, No. 1:23-cv-04920-JMF. Plaintiffs sought permission to file their settlement-related motion and supporting papers with the settlement amount hidden from public view. The defendant did not oppose the request.
Parties’ Position
The parties stated that the consolidated action involved more than ten plaintiffs and the laws of at least seven states. They argued that publicly disclosing confidential settlement amounts could hinder settlement efforts and create inefficiencies. They proposed redacting only the settlement amounts, asserting that the redactions were narrowly limited to that purpose.
Ruling
Judge Furman granted the parties’ request to redact the settlement amounts. Counsel were directed to promptly file the unredacted documents electronically with viewing restricted to the court and the parties. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate ECF No. 251 and docket the endorsement in both the 22-CV-10667 and 23-CV-4920 cases. The endorsement granted the redaction request; the text provided does not state that the court separately approved the settlement itself.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.