Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:19-cv-09910
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 4
In Falberg v. Goldman Sachs, Judge Ramos granted defendants’ motion to seal documents containing confidential employee, pricing, investment, and compensation information.
The order affects the parties’ filings and the public’s access to documents submitted in connection with the defendants’ opposition to class certification. It also concerns confidential information about employees, third parties, financial arrangements, investment options, and terminated employees.
What happened
In Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., the defendants asked to file documents under seal while opposing Leonid Falberg’s motion to have the case proceed as a class action. The documents included briefs, declarations, and exhibits.
The defendants said the materials contained confidential information, including employee and third-party identities, pricing and financial arrangements, investment strategies, and compensation provided to terminated employees. Falberg took no position on the request.
Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the application and directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the motion, docket number 98. The order allowed the defendants to file the identified materials under seal, either entirely or with redactions as proposed.
The detailed version
- Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-09910
- Edgardo Ramos
- June 15, 2021
Background
Leonid Falberg brought the case as a representative of a proposed class and on behalf of The Goldman Sachs 401(k) Plan. The defendants filed a motion asking for permission to submit certain materials under seal in connection with their opposition to Falberg’s motion for class certification.
The requested materials included unredacted exhibits to declarations by Richard C. Pepperman II, Kristen L. Willard, Ph.D., and Christopher Ceder; the defendants’ opposition memorandum; and the declarations themselves. The defendants proposed keeping some documents sealed in full and filing public versions of other documents with redactions. For some lengthy records, they proposed filing excerpts publicly with a notation identifying the omitted pages.
Parties’ Positions
The defendants relied on an earlier court-endorsed filing concerning confidential information in the case. They identified proposed redactions involving the names and contact information of current and former Goldman Sachs employees and other third parties, sensitive pricing and financial-arrangement information, information about mutual funds and other investment options not at issue in the case, and information about payments or other consideration provided to terminated employees. The parties conferred, and Falberg took no position on the motion.
Ruling
The court granted the application to file the identified documents under seal. The order does not separately explain the court’s reasoning beyond endorsing the application. Judge Edgardo Ramos directed the Clerk of Court to terminate motion docket number 98.
Read the full 4-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.