Boyce v. Weber

Background

The plaintiff sought permission to file portions of his opposition to the defendants’ pretrial motions and related supporting documents under seal or with redactions. The materials included portions of witness Sam Shahid’s deposition testimony from a previous sexual-harassment lawsuit. The plaintiff had cited that testimony in responding to the defendants’ motion seeking to prevent use of the lawsuit against Shahid at trial.

The defendants asked that references to the testimony and to an alleged sexual assault involving Shahid be sealed or redacted. According to the language included in the parties’ letter-motion, the defendants characterized those references as sensitive, subject to privacy concerns, inadmissible at trial, decades old, and unrelated to the plaintiff’s allegations. The plaintiff stated that he did not take a position on whether the materials should be sealed at that time and reserved the right to seek unsealing later.

Ruling

The Court temporarily granted the motion to seal. It stated that it would assess whether the materials should remain sealed or redacted when deciding the underlying motion. The Clerk was directed to terminate ECF No. 161.

Effect of the Order

The order addressed only the temporary sealing of the identified materials. The opinion does not decide whether the materials will ultimately remain sealed or redacted, whether Shahid’s testimony will be admitted at trial, or the merits of the underlying motion.