Sabre Global Technologies Limited v. Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.

Background

Sabre Global Technologies Limited brought a breach-of-contract action against Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. Hawaiian filed a motion to dismiss and asked for permission to seal the parties’ Distribution Services Agreement in its entirety and to redact references to that agreement from the memorandum supporting the motion. The request was made based on Sabre’s position that references to the agreement’s terms should be sealed or redacted.

The provided filing also contains Hawaiian’s arguments for dismissing Sabre’s complaint. Those arguments concern alleged breaches of the agreement and alleged breaches of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. The provided court order does not rule on the motion to dismiss or decide the contract claims.

Sealing standard

The court stated that there is a presumption of public access to a “judicial document,” meaning a filed item relevant to the court’s work and useful in the judicial process. The presumption is strongest when the information forms the basis of the court’s decision.

Ruling

The court denied the sealing application without prejudice to renewal. The court directed the defendants, by December 9, 2022, to file a letter further supporting the motion to seal and to provide supporting case law and an analysis under Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, including the applicable public-access standard.

Effect

The order left open the possibility that Hawaiian could renew its request after providing the required support. It did not determine whether the agreement or the challenged references would ultimately be sealed or redacted, and it did not resolve the underlying motion to dismiss.