Roberts v. Bloom Energy Corporation
- Haywood Gilliam
- 4:19-cv-02935
- U.S. District Court · Northern District of California
- 2
In Roberts v. Bloom Energy, Judge Gilliam granted the joint motion to seal an opt-out agreement.
The parties’ opt-out agreement is affected because Exhibit 3 must be filed and remain under seal.
What happened
In Roberts v. Bloom Energy Corporation, the court considered the parties’ joint request to file an opt-out agreement under seal.
The court found compelling reasons to keep the agreement confidential, including preventing improper efforts to persuade people to opt out of a settlement or use the agreement’s information to seek higher payments.
Judge Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. granted the joint motion and ordered the opt-out agreement, submitted as Exhibit 3, filed under seal in its entirety. The document will remain sealed.
The detailed version
- Roberts v. Bloom Energy Corporation · No. 4:19-cv-02935
- Haywood Gilliam
- Oct. 31, 2023
Background
The parties filed a joint administrative motion under the Northern District of California’s local rules to submit an opt-out agreement under seal. The agreement was attached as Exhibit 3 to their motion.
Court’s Analysis
The court found “compelling reasons” to maintain the agreement’s confidentiality. Citing other cases, the court explained that keeping similar opt-out information confidential can discourage third parties from improperly soliciting class members to opt out and can prevent people from using information about the settlement’s opt-out threshold to seek higher payments or obstruct the settlement.
Ruling
The court stated that the joint motion was GRANTED. It ordered the opt-out agreement filed under seal in its entirety and stated that, under Civil Local Rule 79-5(g)(1), the document would remain sealed.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.