Peerless Network, Inc. v. AT&T Corp.
- Figueredo
- 1:15-cv-00870-VM-VF
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Peerless Network v. AT&T, Judge Figueredo granted requests to redact confidential business and settlement information.
Peerless Network, Inc., the other plaintiffs, AT&T Corp., and the public’s access to the sealed or redacted material.
What happened
Peerless Network, Inc. and other plaintiffs and AT&T Corp. had four outstanding requests to seal or redact documents in the case. The requests concerned settlement terms, business information, technical data, pricing, and network capabilities.
The court granted the plaintiffs’ three requests to redact documents and the parties’ joint request to redact the court’s May 18, 2022 order. The court found that the parties’ interest in protecting commercially sensitive information outweighed the public’s interest in access to that material.
Judge Valerie Figueredo also directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the four motions at ECF Nos. 151, 167, 192, and 196.
The detailed version
- Peerless Network, Inc. v. AT&T Corp. · No. 1:15-cv-00870-VM-VF
- Figueredo
- Dec. 2, 2022
Background
The parties had four outstanding motions to seal or redact material. Three requests were made by the plaintiffs, and the parties jointly requested redactions to the court’s May 18, 2022 order.
The requested redactions covered specific terms of the parties’ settlement agreement, including the value of services and two specific dollar amounts. They also covered commercially sensitive information, including technical data, pricing terms, network capabilities and functions, and AT&T Corp.’s confidential pricing information involving other competitors.
Ruling
The court applied the standard identified by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. The court stated that courts in the Southern District of New York routinely allow sealing or redaction of commercially sensitive information to protect confidential business and financial interests. It found that the parties’ interest in keeping the information confidential outweighed the public’s interest in the sealed material.
The court granted the plaintiffs’ motions to seal the requested documents and granted the parties’ joint request to redact the May 18, 2022 order. Judge Valerie Figueredo directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the motions at ECF Nos. 151, 167, 192, and 196.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.