Haley v. Teachers Investment and Annuity Association

Background

The defendant, identified in the opinion as Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), asked the court to redact one specific dollar amount from the transcript of a June 12, 2020 telephone conference. The amount appeared on page 9, lines 2–3, and concerned “spread compensation” connected to TIAA’s collateral loan service.

The request concerned a discovery-related figure that plaintiff’s counsel had calculated using confidential information produced by TIAA. The transcript included discussion of the interest paid by borrowing participants, the amount credited on loan collateral, and the difference between those amounts.

Request and reasoning

TIAA argued that the dollar figure was confidential business information and that disclosure to the public and competitors could cause competitive harm. It relied on the presumption of public access to judicial documents and the exception allowing confidentiality when protecting higher values, including protection from competitive injury. TIAA also argued that the requested redaction was narrowly tailored and that the figure was not directly relevant to the discovery disputes addressed at the hearing. The plaintiff consented to the requested relief.

Ruling

Judge Robert W. Lehrburger granted the defendant’s request to redact the dollar figure from the publicly available version of the June 12 transcript. The order did not address the underlying claims concerning the collateralized loan program or the alleged prohibited transactions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.