Doe v. Hyassat
- Paul Gardephe
- 1:18-cv-06110
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
Doe v. Hyassat: Judge Gardephe granted Jane Doe’s request to seal medical records and file specified declarations and a letter with redactions.
Jane Doe’s medical records and the identities of Doe and her mother were protected from public disclosure in the specified court filings; Mutaz Hyassat is the named defendant.
What happened
In Jane Doe v. Mutaz Hyassat, Jane Doe, through her lawyers, asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to keep medical records from public view. The records concerned medical conditions that she said resulted from rape and sexual assault.
She also asked to file redacted versions of her declaration, her mother’s declaration, and a treating neuropsychologist’s letter. The requested redactions would remove names and locations to protect Doe’s identity and, for one document, her mother’s identity.
The court granted the application. Judge Paul G. Gardephe therefore allowed the medical records to be filed under seal and allowed the specified documents to be filed with the requested redactions.
The detailed version
- Doe v. Hyassat · No. 1:18-cv-06110
- Paul Gardephe
- Dec. 7, 2022
Background
Jane Doe filed a motion for default judgment and, through counsel, separately requested permission to file certain supporting materials under seal or with redactions. The motion identified the defendant as Mutaz Hyassat. The opinion text states that Doe was permitted to proceed under the name Jane Doe because the case involved allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Requested protection
Doe asked to file her hospital and ophthalmologist records—identified as Exhibits J through M to the declaration of Robert L. Weigel—under seal. She argued that the records contained sensitive medical information, including information about her physical, mental, and emotional suffering.
Doe also asked to file redacted versions of her declaration, her mother’s declaration, and a letter from her treating neuropsychologist, Dr. Eric Watson. She requested redaction of her name and location where applicable, and of her mother’s name and location in her mother’s declaration. Doe argued that these redactions were needed to protect the identities of a sexual-assault victim and her immediate family member.
Court’s ruling
The order states, “The Application is granted.” The court therefore granted Doe’s application to file the medical records under seal and to file the specified declarations and Dr. Watson’s letter with redactions. The court’s reasoning discussed the public’s general right to access judicial documents and concluded, as described in the application, that protecting sensitive medical information and the identity of a sexual-assault victim justified the requested protections. Judge Paul G. Gardephe signed the order.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.