JLM Couture, Inc. v. Gutman
- Laura Swain
- 1:20-cv-10575
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In JLM Couture v. Gutman, Judge Swain approved redactions and sealing of exhibits containing business information and nonparties’ personal information.
JLM Couture, Inc., Hayley Paige Gutman, and nonparties whose personal information appeared in the direct messages; the order also restricts public access to specified business information.
What happened
In JLM Couture, Inc. v. Hayley Paige Gutman, JLM asked to redact one exhibit and seal another exhibit filed with its reply concerning its request for a preliminary court order. The materials involved social-media marketing data and direct messages sent to an Instagram account.
JLM said the first exhibit contained sensitive information about its social-media marketing costs and performance. It said the second contained names, social-media handles, photographs, and personal information belonging to people who were not parties, including customers or potential customers. Gutman’s lawyer did not object to the request.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the sealing requests and approved the proposed redactions. The unredacted sealed versions may be viewed only by the court and the lawyers for the parties; future sealed filings containing the same material must link to the endorsed order, and unredacted copies must be sent to chambers.
The detailed version
- JLM Couture, Inc. v. Gutman · No. 1:20-cv-10575
- Laura Swain
- Jan. 26, 2021
Background
JLM Couture, Inc. asked the court to allow two exhibits accompanying its reply declaration to be filed with restricted public access. It requested permission to file Exhibit 123 in redacted form and Exhibit 124 under seal. JLM stated that the exhibits had been requested by Gutman in expedited discovery.
JLM’s Requests
Exhibit 123 was a spreadsheet concerning JLM’s social-media advertising campaigns for the Instagram account identified as @misshayleypaige. JLM sought to redact information about campaign costs, analytics, reach, and related marketing details. It proposed leaving the campaign names and campaign time periods visible.
Exhibit 124 consisted of direct messages sent to the Instagram account shortly before and shortly after the court’s December 16, 2020 order granting JLM’s temporary restraining order. JLM requested that the exhibit be sealed because the messages contained names, social-media handles, photographs, and personal information belonging to numerous nonparties, including customers or potential customers. JLM also said the information was not intended to be publicly viewable and that disclosure could cause competitive harm. Gutman did not object.
Court’s Analysis
The letter relied on the Second Circuit’s three-part test for sealing judicial documents. That test asks whether the material is relevant to the court’s work, how important it is to the court’s decision, and whether competing interests—such as privacy or protection from competitive harm—weigh against public disclosure.
Ruling
Judge Laura Taylor Swain granted the sealing requests and approved the proposed redactions. The court ordered that the sealed, unredacted versions be viewable only by the court, counsel for JLM, and counsel for Gutman. Any later sealed filing containing identical material must be linked to the endorsed order, and unredacted copies must be emailed to chambers. The order states that docket entry 63 was resolved.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.