de Lacour v. Colgate-Palmolive Co.

Background

Plaintiffs Anne de Lacour, Andrea Wright, and Loree Moran, through their attorneys, submitted a request to file materials under seal in support of their renewed motion for class certification. The request sought to seal Exhibits 3 and 4 to a declaration in their entirety, along with portions of a reply memorandum and portions of declarations that quoted or referred to documents the defendants had designated as confidential.

Plaintiffs’ stated reasons

The request said the materials contained proprietary business information, including confidential sales and financial data, competitively sensitive market and consumer research, and product formulations. Plaintiffs cited decisions discussing the sealing of trade secrets, confidential research and development information, marketing plans, revenue information, pricing information, and similar material.

Plaintiffs also stated that the materials overlapped with materials submitted for an earlier class-certification motion. According to the request, the parties had previously met and conferred about the scope of redactions, and Judge Ronnie Abrams had narrowed and ultimately granted an earlier request to seal. Plaintiffs asked for the same sealing treatment for the materials involved in this request.

Ruling

The document ends with “SO ORDERED” and is signed by United States District Judge Kimba M. Wood, dated April 13, 2020. The provided opinion text does not expressly use the words “granted,” “denied,” or “granted in part and denied in part” for this request. It therefore establishes that Judge Wood entered an order on the request but does not, by its text alone, state the precise disposition.