Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
- Edgardo Ramos
- 1:19-cv-09910
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Judge Ramos granted defendants’ motion to file specified case materials under seal or in redacted form.
The defendants may file the specified materials under seal or in redacted form. The order also protects confidential business information and identifying information about Goldman Sachs employees and nonparties from public disclosure.
What happened
In Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., the defendants asked to file certain exhibits, expert materials, deposition excerpts, and summary-judgment papers under seal or with redactions. The plaintiff took no position on the request.
The materials included confidential investment analysis, information about third-party contracts and the Goldman Sachs 401(k) Plan Retirement Committee, communications and deposition testimony, expert materials, and identifying information for employees and nonparties. The court explained that public access to materials supporting a summary-judgment motion may be weaker and that protecting confidential business information and personal privacy supported the request.
Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the application, allowing the specified documents to be filed under seal or in redacted form.
The detailed version
- Falberg v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. · No. 1:19-cv-09910
- Edgardo Ramos
- Mar. 1, 2022
Background
The defendants moved for permission to file certain materials under seal or in redacted form in connection with their motion for summary judgment and motion to exclude opinions by Dr. Brian C. Becker. The request covered specified exhibits to declarations supporting those motions, an unredacted memorandum of law, an accompanying declaration, and a statement of material facts. The plaintiff took no position after the parties conferred.
Court’s analysis
The court recognized that the public generally has a presumptive right to inspect judicial records, but explained that filing a document with the court does not automatically make it a judicial document subject to public access. The court also noted that the presumption of access may be weaker for materials filed with a summary-judgment motion, particularly when the motion has not resolved the parties’ substantive rights.
The requested materials contained confidential investment analysis comparing third-party funds and fund managers; details of third-party contractual relationships; materials concerning meetings, decisions, and deliberations of the Goldman Sachs 401(k) Plan Retirement Committee; confidential communications; deposition excerpts; expert reports; and expert-deposition transcripts. The court stated that the materials were consistent in kind with information it had previously found appropriate to protect from public disclosure. The court also found that disclosure could harm business relationships and discourage open discussion by the Committee. In addition, the materials contained identifying information about employees and nonparties, including names, telephone numbers, and email addresses, supporting redactions to protect privacy.
Disposition
Judge Edgardo Ramos granted the defendants’ application. The order allowed the specified materials to be filed under seal or in redacted form in connection with the defendants’ summary-judgment motion and motion to exclude certain expert opinions. This order addressed document sealing and did not decide the underlying summary-judgment motion.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.