Knox v. John Varvatos Enterprises, Inc.

Background

During trial, John Varvatos Enterprises, Inc. represented that it had made a motion to seal certain exhibits and that the motion had been granted. The court explained that its earlier order had granted only a request to redact or seal exhibits included in a letter application seeking pretrial rulings. That application was evaluated under a different standard from the procedure apparently contemplated by the defendant: filing the actual exhibits under seal and redacting transcript portions that referred to them.

Court’s action

The court temporarily sealed the March 2, 2020 transcript so the defendant could submit a proper application. It ordered the Clerk to make the transcript viewable only by the court and the attorneys in the case until further order. The defendant was ordered to file, by March 27, 2020, any motion seeking to seal transcript redactions. The court directed the defendant to follow the briefing schedule in paragraph 2.B of the court’s Individual Practices and to follow paragraph 2.E if any portion of the motion itself needed to be filed under seal.

Standard for further sealing

The court stated that sealing matters arising during a public trial is subject to a strict standard. It directed the defendant to submit an affidavit or declaration from a person with knowledge identifying the specific harm or potential harm that further public disclosure would cause. The motion also had to include a proposed redacted version of the transcript for public viewing. The order noted that the testimony at issue had been given in a courtroom open to the public.