Kerr v. Physician Affiliate Group of New York P.C.

Background

Defendant Physician Affiliate Group of New York, P.C. asked the court for permission to file certain exhibits under seal and to file a redacted reply memorandum. The request concerned materials submitted with defendants’ reply in support of a joint motion in limine, a motion addressing what evidence may be used in a proceeding. Plaintiff consented to the sealing request.

Materials at Issue

The requested sealed exhibits included information from PhyCare, a third-party vendor that collects medical-record information for billing and uses some of that information to calculate physician bonuses. The materials contained bonus information for the Radiology Department from 2013 through 2018. Defendants described the information concerning individual physicians as private and the information as proprietary.

Other exhibits consisted of the plaintiff’s medical records. Defendants also sought to redact portions of their reply that referred to those records. The request stated that the bonus materials related to defendants’ argument that the documents were irrelevant to the motion in limine, while the medical records related to whether Leslie Kerr could testify as the plaintiff’s treating physician.

Ruling

The court’s order states: “Application GRANTED.” Judge Valerie E. Caproni therefore granted the request to seal the specified exhibits and to file a redacted reply memorandum. The order did not decide the underlying motion in limine or the merits of the parties’ claims. A footnote stated that a separate balancing of interests would be appropriate if the plaintiff later introduced any of the documents as trial exhibits.