McKoy v. The Trump Corporation and Donald J. Trump
Catherine McKoy, Marcus Frazier and Lynn Chadwick v. The Trump Corporation and Donald J. Trump
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:18-cv-09936
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In McKoy v. Trump Corporation, Judge Cave denied Plaintiffs’ request to seal a court filing and ordered it unsealed.
The ruling affected Plaintiffs’ request to seal the filing, Defendants as the parties that had designated the information confidential, and public access to the court docket. The document at ECF No. 511 was ordered unsealed.
What happened
Catherine McKoy, Markus Frazier, and Lynn Chadwick v. The Trump Corporation and Donald J. Trump concerned Plaintiffs’ request to keep parts of a court filing secret.
Plaintiffs asked to seal portions of a filing seeking to prevent Defendants’ experts from testifying or using certain materials. Plaintiffs said Defendants had designated the information confidential under a protective order, and Plaintiffs took no position on sealing. Defendants did not provide a reason for sealing or respond to the request.
The court denied the sealing request and directed the Clerk to unseal the filing and close the sealing request. United States Magistrate Judge Sarah L. Cave issued the order.
The detailed version
- McKoy v. The Trump Corporation and Donald J. Trump · No. 1:18-cv-09936
- Lorna Schofield
- July 19, 2023
Background
Plaintiffs requested permission to file under seal portions of a letter-motion asking the court to preclude Defendants’ experts under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c). Plaintiffs said the portions contained information that Defendants had designated confidential under the parties’ protective order. Plaintiffs also stated that Defendants were the party that designated the information and that Plaintiffs took no position on sealing.
Court’s analysis
The court noted that Defendants had not provided a basis for sealing and had not otherwise responded to the request. The order cited the presumption that judicial documents are open to the public and referenced decisions explaining that a confidentiality agreement alone does not overcome that presumption.
Ruling
The court denied the request to seal. It directed the Clerk of Court to unseal the document filed at ECF No. 511 and to close ECF No. 509. Sarah L. Cave, United States Magistrate Judge, issued the order.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.