Cohen v. Northeast Radiology, P.C.

Background

Alliance Healthcare Services, Inc. asked to file its letter-motion and attachments for a pre-motion conference under seal. Northeast Radiology, P.C. joined the request, and Bryan Cohen did not object.

Sealing request

The court denied the request to seal. It explained that the documents were judicial documents subject to a presumption of public access under both common law and the First Amendment. Alliance had not narrowly tailored its request or shown that sealing was essential to protect more important interests. Although Alliance cited Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act as requiring confidentiality, it did not identify which parts of the documents were confidential under those authorities. The court identified only Cohen’s mailing address and birthday as potentially confidential.

Other rulings and deadlines

The court ordered Alliance to refile the letter-motion and attachments on the public docket by close of business on May 17, 2021, after redacting Cohen’s mailing address and birthday. The court deferred ruling on the merits of Alliance’s request for a pre-motion conference. It ordered Cohen to respond to that request by the same deadline and to provide a specific date by which he expected to obtain corroboration about whether he had been a patient at the defendants’ facilities. The Clerk was directed to terminate the letter-motions, while the documents and attachments were to remain under seal in the meantime.

Disposition

Judge Briccetti denied the request to seal, deferred ruling on the pre-motion-conference request, and set the stated filing and response requirements.