Girl Scouts of the United States of America v. Boy Scouts of America
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:18-cv-10287
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 6
In Girl Scouts v. Boy Scouts, Judge Hellerstein granted the Boy Scouts’ request to seal or redact specified summary-judgment materials.
The Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, third party Ogilvy, and non-parties whose information appeared in the identified court materials.
What happened
Girl Scouts of the United States of America v. Boy Scouts of America involved requests about keeping parts of court filings private while the Boy Scouts sought summary judgment.
The Boy Scouts asked to seal or redact portions of filings and exhibits containing confidential financial, business, personally identifying, and non-party information. The filing also described materials that the Girl Scouts and third party Ogilvy had asked to keep private.
Judge Hellerstein granted the defendant’s request to file the specified summary-judgment pages and exhibits under seal or with redactions. The order does not separately explain each requested redaction.
The detailed version
- Girl Scouts of the United States of America v. Boy Scouts of America · No. 1:18-cv-10287
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Dec. 1, 2020
Background
The Boy Scouts of America asked for permission to file certain pages and exhibits connected to its motion for summary judgment under seal or with redactions. The filing also addressed materials that the Girl Scouts of the United States of America and third party Ogilvy requested be sealed or redacted.
The materials included portions of the parties’ summary-judgment briefs and statements of facts, declarations, expert-report materials, exhibits, and deposition excerpts. The stated reasons included confidential financial information, competitively sensitive business information, personally identifiable information about non-parties, and information relating to internal procedures.
Legal standard described in the filing
The filing explained that court records are generally subject to a presumption of public access. A request to seal or redact must be narrowly tailored to protect a valid interest. It also stated that confidential business information may justify sealing when disclosure could harm a party’s competitive position. The filing further stated that the party seeking confidential treatment generally bears the burden of showing why specific materials deserve protection.
Ruling
The court’s order states: “Defendant’s request to file pages and exhibits from its motion for summary judgment under seal and/or with redactions on the public record is granted.” Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein signed the order on December 1, 2020. The text provided does not separately state which individual documents or proposed redactions were approved, and it does not provide a separate ruling on each request described in the filing.
Read the full 6-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.