Evergreen East Cooperative v. Bottomley Evergreens & Farms, Inc.

Background

Bottomley Evergreens & Farms, Inc. responded to the court’s December 13, 2019 order concerning Bottomley’s motion to enforce a settlement agreement. Bottomley withdrew its blanket request to seal the documents associated with that motion and instead sought permission to redact only the settlement amount.

The proposed redactions covered Bottomley’s motion, its supporting memorandum, the declaration of Ashlee Webster, and specified exhibits. Bottomley stated that the settlement amount was closely tied to the outstanding amount Evergreen East Cooperative owed for purchased goods, that Evergreen received a significant settlement discount, and that Bottomley wanted to protect the privacy of its business deals and pricing.

Ruling

The court granted Bottomley’s letter-motion to publicly file the motion to enforce the settlement agreement and the associated documents with the settlement amount redacted. The court directed Bottomley to file the redacted documents on the public docket and the unredacted versions under seal. The order did not decide whether the settlement agreement should be enforced.

Effect

The specified documents were to be publicly available in redacted form, while their unredacted versions were to remain under seal. The ruling addressed document filing and access, not the merits of the settlement-enforcement motion.