Pearson Education, Inc. v. Labos
- John Cronan
- 1:19-cv-00487
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Pearson Education v. Labos, Judge Cronan allowed financial account numbers to be filed under seal while requiring a public redacted version.
The plaintiffs and defendants in the case, because the order addressed public access to defendants’ financial account numbers and the plaintiffs’ proposed filing.
What happened
Pearson Education, Inc. v. Labos concerns the plaintiffs’ request to keep defendants’ full financial account numbers from public view.
The plaintiffs asked to file a proposed default judgment and permanent injunction order with the full account numbers under seal, while filing a version available to the public with those numbers redacted. They said the account numbers were private and needed to remain available to financial institutions that would receive the proposed order.
Judge John P. Cronan allowed the plaintiffs to file the proposed order with the full account numbers under seal and required a public redacted version. He also directed the Clerk of Court to close the pending motion.
The detailed version
- Pearson Education, Inc. v. Labos · No. 1:19-cv-00487
- John Cronan
- Dec. 22, 2020
Background
Pearson Education, Inc., McGraw Hill LLC, formerly McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC, and Cengage Learning, Inc. were the plaintiffs. Their attorneys asked for permission to file a proposed default judgment and permanent injunction order under seal in part. The proposed filing included defendants’ full financial account numbers in an appendix.
The plaintiffs stated that they would file a public version containing the rest of the proposed order but with the financial account numbers redacted. They relied on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2(a)(4), which generally requires financial account numbers to be redacted unless the court orders otherwise. They said the full numbers were needed so financial institutions receiving the order could identify the relevant accounts.
Ruling
Judge John P. Cronan allowed the plaintiffs to file the proposed default judgment and permanent injunction order with the full account numbers under seal and required them to file a public redacted version. The order also directed the Clerk of Court to close the motion pending at docket entry 61. The available text does not state the substance of any ruling on the proposed default judgment or permanent injunction itself.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.