Graham v. National Beverage Corporation
- Analisa Torres
- 1:19-cv-00873
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Graham v. National Beverage Corporation, Judge Lehrburger entered an order on a request to seal discovery filings, but the available text does not state the request’s disposition.
The plaintiffs, National Beverage Corporation, and a third-party flavor house whose confidential materials and deposition testimony were involved in the sealing request.
What happened
In Graham v. National Beverage Corporation, the plaintiffs asked to file a letter motion and three exhibits with redactions and under seal. The letter motion sought an order preventing National Beverage Corporation from obstructing further discovery.
The plaintiffs said the exhibits contained information labeled highly confidential and for attorneys’ eyes only by National Beverage Corporation and a third party. They identified supplier identities, flavor-product ingredients, and manufacturing methods as information whose disclosure could harm the company and third-party flavor houses. The plaintiffs took no position on whether those confidentiality labels were proper.
The available opinion text shows an order dated June 29, 2020, signed by Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. It does not state whether the request to file the materials under seal was granted, denied, or otherwise resolved.
The detailed version
- Graham v. National Beverage Corporation · No. 1:19-cv-00873
- Analisa Torres
- June 29, 2020
Background
The plaintiffs asked for permission to file a letter motion and three of four exhibits under seal, with redactions. Their letter motion sought an order barring National Beverage Corporation (identified as “NBC”) from obstructing further discovery.
The plaintiffs said that NBC or third-party flavor houses had designated the three exhibits as “Highly Confidential/Attorneys Eyes Only,” or that the exhibits contained information with that designation. The materials included documents produced by NBC or third-party flavor houses and excerpts from a deposition of a third-party corporate representative. The plaintiffs planned to redact portions of the letter motion containing information previously designated confidential by NBC and the third party.
Confidentiality grounds described
The letter stated that the materials contained proprietary information about NBC’s suppliers, some ingredients in the suppliers’ flavor products, and the methods used to manufacture flavor ingredients for LaCroix products. It asserted that disclosure could reveal this information to competitors and cause harm to NBC and the third party. The letter cited authority discussing public access, third-party privacy interests, trade secrets, and competitive disadvantage. The plaintiffs stated that they took no position on the confidentiality designations. They also said they would provide unredacted copies of the relevant filings to the court by email under the parties’ protective order.
Court action and disposition
The available text ends with an “ORDERED” entry dated June 29, 2020 and signed by Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. It does not include the operative language stating whether the request to file the materials under seal was granted, denied, or resolved in another way. Accordingly, the disposition cannot be determined from the supplied opinion text.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.