Allianz Global Investors GmbH v. Bank Of America Corporation
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:18-cv-10364
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Allianz Global Investors v. Bank of America, Judge Schofield granted Barclays’ application to seal a discovery declaration protecting six nonparty employees’ privacy.
The ruling affects the Barclays defendants, the six nonparty Barclays employees whose identities and employment-related information appear in the declaration, and the public’s access to that discovery-related filing.
What happened
In Allianz Global Investors GmbH v. Bank Of America Corporation, Barclays asked to file an unredacted declaration under seal in support of a request for more time to determine whether certain audio files existed and were accessible.
The declaration identified six Barclays employees who were not parties to the case and stated whether each had been indicted, terminated, or suspended. The court considered the public’s right to access court records and the employees’ privacy interests.
Judge Schofield granted the application to seal the declaration, concluding that the privacy interests of the nonparty employees outweighed the public-access presumption for materials related to a discovery dispute.
The detailed version
- Allianz Global Investors GmbH v. Bank Of America Corporation · No. 1:18-cv-10364
- Lorna Schofield
- Nov. 5, 2020
Background
The Barclays defendants sought permission to file under seal an unredacted version of Exhibit A to a letter motion requesting an extension of a November 5, 2020 deadline. The exhibit was a declaration by Nicole E. Zapasnikas concerning whether audio files from January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2007, existed and were readily accessible for certain custodians.
Analysis
The opinion explained that the public has a strong, but not absolute, right to access judicial documents. That presumption is weaker for materials submitted in connection with discovery disputes because discovery oversight is secondary to the court’s central role in deciding the case. Privacy interests and business secrecy may outweigh the public-access presumption.
The declaration identified six Barclays employees from around the world who were not parties to the action. It disclosed each employee’s name and whether the employee had been indicted, terminated, or suspended, as required by an earlier court order. The opinion treated the nonparties’ privacy interests as a strong reason not to disclose their identities and concluded that those interests outweighed the public’s access interest.
Ruling
The court granted Barclays’ application to seal the declaration. The ruling addressed access to discovery-related material and did not decide the underlying claims in the case.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.