Brown v. Google LLC

Background

The plaintiffs filed an administrative motion asking to seal materials associated with a discovery dispute. The materials included a joint letter brief concerning the plaintiffs’ request for an additional Google custodian.

Legal standard

Court records generally carry a strong presumption of public access. The court explained that records connected to motions addressing the merits usually require “compelling reasons” for sealing. But records connected to discovery-related motions that are not, or are only indirectly, related to the merits may be sealed under the lower “good cause” standard in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c). Parties must also follow the court’s local sealing procedures.

Court’s analysis and ruling

The court applied the good-cause standard because the information was submitted in connection with discovery-related motions. After considering the motions to seal, supporting declarations, and the filings, the court found good cause to protect Google’s confidential and proprietary information. The information concerned features of Google’s internal systems and operations, including internal projects, identifiers, metrics, logs, and proprietary functions. The court stated that Google treated this information as confidential in its ordinary business operations and that it was not generally known to the public or Google’s competitors. The court also found that disclosure could affect Google’s competitive position and increase cybersecurity risks.

The court therefore granted the sealing request as to the redacted portions on pages 1 through 4 of the joint letter brief. The order did not grant sealing of the entire document.