Volkswagen of America, Inc. v. GPB Capital Holdings, LLC
- Analisa Torres
- 1:20-cv-01043
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Volkswagen of America v. GPB Capital, Judge Torres denied Volkswagen’s request to keep its complaint and related filings sealed.
Volkswagen of America, Inc., whose requested sealing was denied, and members of the public who gained access to the filings when they were unsealed.
What happened
Volkswagen of America, Inc. sued GPB Capital Holdings, LLC and asked to keep its complaint, exhibits, and sealing papers hidden from public view. Another judge temporarily sealed the filings while Judge Torres reviewed the request.
The court explained that complaints and their exhibits are court records that generally must be accessible to the public. Volkswagen relied on the parties’ agreement to keep settlement information confidential, but the court said that private agreement was not enough, especially because it allowed disclosure when required by a court order.
Judge Analisa Torres denied the motion to seal the complaint and attachments, the sealing motion, and the supporting affidavit and attachments. She directed the Clerk of Court to unseal all filings on February 12, 2020, at 5:00 p.m.
The detailed version
- Volkswagen of America, Inc. v. GPB Capital Holdings, LLC · No. 1:20-cv-01043
- Analisa Torres
- Feb. 10, 2020
Background
Volkswagen filed a complaint with exhibits and moved to seal the complaint, those exhibits, its motion to seal, and the declaration supporting that motion. Chief Judge Colleen McMahon temporarily kept the filings under seal until February 12, 2020, so Judge Torres could decide the sealing request.
Legal standard
The court explained that a “judicial document” is a filing relevant to the court’s work and useful in the judicial process. Judicial documents generally carry a presumption of public access under both the common law and the First Amendment. A party seeking to overcome that presumption must make a specific showing that sealing is essential to protect a higher value and is narrowly tailored to that interest.
Reasoning
The only reason Volkswagen gave for sealing was that the complaint and exhibits contained information the parties had agreed to keep confidential in their settlement. The court held that an agreement to keep information confidential does not by itself overcome the public-access presumption for judicial documents. It also noted that the settlement agreement expressly allowed disclosure when required by a court order, which weakened Volkswagen’s claimed confidentiality interest.
Ruling
Judge Analisa Torres denied Volkswagen’s motion to seal (1) the complaint and its attachments, (2) the motion to seal, and (3) the supporting affidavit and its attachments. The Clerk of Court was directed to unseal all filings in the action on February 12, 2020, at 5:00 p.m.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.