Easy Spirit, LLC v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc.
- Jed Rakoff
- 1:19-cv-03299
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Easy Spirit v. Skechers, Judge Pauley required narrower Exhibit K redactions and granted sealing for the remaining proposed redactions.
Skechers, Easy Spirit, and certain non-parties whose confidential or proprietary business information appeared in the filings and exhibits.
What happened
Easy Spirit v. Skechers concerned Skechers’ request to keep parts of its summary-judgment papers, factual statement, and supporting exhibits secret. Easy Spirit and some non-parties submitted letters about the request.
The court rejected Skechers’ proposed redactions to Exhibit K because they covered too much of a deposition transcript. Skechers was ordered to file that exhibit again, redacting only lines 70:1–2. The court granted the request for all remaining proposed redactions.
Judge William H. Pauley III said the remaining redactions were narrowly limited and justified to protect confidential business information belonging to Skechers, Easy Spirit, and certain non-parties.
The detailed version
- Easy Spirit, LLC v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-03299
- Jed Rakoff
- Aug. 27, 2020
Background
Skechers moved to file under seal portions of its memorandum supporting summary judgment, its statement of undisputed material facts, and specified exhibits from a supporting declaration. The proposed sealing covered confidential and proprietary business information. Easy Spirit and certain non-parties submitted letters addressing the motion.
Court’s analysis
The court separately considered Exhibit K, which contained excerpts from the deposition transcript of Easy Spirit’s designated witness, Mark DeZao. Skechers represented that Easy Spirit had requested that the excerpts be sealed. Easy Spirit later clarified that only lines 70:1–2 contained information it claimed should be redacted. The court therefore found Skechers’ proposed redactions to Exhibit K overbroad.
The court concluded that Skechers’ remaining proposed redactions were narrowly tailored, limited in scope, and justified to protect confidential and proprietary business information of Skechers, Easy Spirit, and the affected non-parties. The court cited the Second Circuit’s decision in Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga regarding sealing standards.
Disposition
The court rejected the proposed redactions to Exhibit K and ordered Skechers to refile that exhibit with redactions only to lines 70:1–2. The court granted Skechers’ motion to file under seal with respect to all remaining proposed redactions. This was a procedural order concerning access to court filings, not a decision on the underlying summary-judgment issues.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.