Miller v. Travel Guard Group, Inc.

Background

The parties submitted a joint discovery letter about redactions in documents the defendants produced on March 31, 2023. The plaintiffs argued that the redactions were not justified in light of the case’s protective order, which limits how disclosed information may be used or shared. The plaintiffs asked the court to order production of the documents without redactions. The defendants opposed that request but proposed removing redactions for financial information unrelated to their assistance services.

Ruling

The court granted the plaintiffs’ request in part. It found that the defendants’ general statements that the redacted information was sensitive did not show that the protective order would fail to protect them from disclosure. The defendants therefore had to produce all documents involved in the dispute in unredacted form, subject to one limitation.

Redaction could be justified for material that a third party considered confidential and that was covered by a contractual nondisclosure agreement between that third party and a defendant. The defendants could redact such material, but they had to provide a complete redaction log identifying the specific contract provision supporting each redaction. The order did not prevent the plaintiffs from challenging any redaction claimed on that basis.

Disposition

The court ordered the defendants to produce the documents and any required redaction log to the plaintiffs by May 19, 2023.