In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation v. Laundress
In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation; Ostenfeld, et al. v. The Laundress, LLC
- Jesse Furman
- 1:22-cv-10667
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Ostenfeld v. The Laundress, Judge Furman temporarily granted a request to seal class-certification materials and required an explanation before deciding permanent sealing.
Deborah Geschwind and the other plaintiffs seeking class certification, The Laundress, LLC, and the public’s access to the listed court materials were affected. The Laundress was required to explain the need for continued sealing or redaction.
What happened
In In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation; Ostenfeld, et al. v. The Laundress, LLC, Deborah Geschwind asked to seal portions of the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The request covered sensitive health information and materials referring to documents and depositions that The Laundress had marked confidential.
The court temporarily granted the motion to seal. It required The Laundress to file a letter by October 17, 2025, explaining why the listed materials needed to remain sealed or redacted. The court said it would decide whether to keep them sealed or redacted when it considered the underlying class-certification motion.
Judge Jesse M. Furman also directed the Clerk of Court to terminate ECF No. 331. The order did not make a final decision about whether the materials would remain sealed.
The detailed version
- In Re Laundress Marketing and Product Liability Litigation v. Laundress · No. 1:22-cv-10667
- Jesse Furman
- Oct. 16, 2025
Background
Deborah Geschwind, one of the Ostenfeld plaintiffs, sought permission to file portions of the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification under seal. The request covered part of the supporting memorandum and part of Geschwind’s declaration containing nonpublic health information.
The request also covered portions or entire copies of materials that The Laundress had designated “Confidential” under the parties’ stipulated confidentiality agreement and protective order. The listed materials included portions of several deposition transcripts, certain exhibits, the entirety of a declaration by plaintiffs’ counsel, and portions of a declaration by the plaintiffs’ damages expert that referred to confidential documents or testimony.
Court’s Action
The motion to seal was granted temporarily. Under Rule 7(C) of the court’s Individual Rules and Practices in Civil Cases, The Laundress was ordered to file a letter explaining the need to seal or redact the listed materials no later than October 17, 2025.
The court stated that it would later assess whether the materials should remain sealed or redacted when deciding the underlying motion for class certification. Thus, the order did not finally determine which materials would remain sealed. The Clerk of Court was directed to terminate ECF No. 331. Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered the relief on October 16, 2025.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.