Mercer v. VIACOMCBS/PARAMOUNT
- Lorna Schofield
- 1:22-cv-06322
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Mercer v. ViacomCBS/Paramount, Judge Schofield granted sealing of medical information and limited access to specified people.
The ruling affects Amirah Mercer and ViacomCBS/Paramount, as well as the listed counsel and law-firm personnel who were authorized to access the sealed documents.
What happened
In Mercer v. ViacomCBS/Paramount, Defendant ViacomCBS/Paramount asked the court to accept public filings with personal medical information removed. The defendant also submitted unredacted versions of the documents for filing under seal.
The defendant’s request concerned its memorandum supporting a motion to dismiss and an exhibit containing Plaintiff Amirah Mercer’s medical-contraindication paperwork. Mercer was representing herself.
Judge Schofield granted the application, ordered the unredacted memorandum and exhibit kept under seal, and directed the Clerk to allow access only to the people listed in the defendant’s exhibit.
The detailed version
- Mercer v. VIACOMCBS/PARAMOUNT · No. 1:22-cv-06322
- Lorna Schofield
- July 28, 2023
Background
Defendant ViacomCBS/Paramount, now known as Paramount Global, asked the court to accept redacted public filings related to its motion to dismiss Plaintiff Amirah Mercer’s complaint. The redacted materials included the defendant’s memorandum of law and an exhibit containing Mercer’s “Medical Contraindication” paperwork. The defendant submitted unredacted versions separately for filing under seal and identified the people who should be allowed to view them. Mercer was representing herself.
Court’s Analysis
The court explained that judicial documents generally carry a public-access right, but that right is not absolute. Courts must balance that presumption against competing interests. The court found that medical records carry a strong privacy interest and concluded that the unredacted memorandum and accompanying exhibit should be filed under seal.
Ruling
Judge Lorna G. Schofield granted the application. The Clerk of Court was directed to close the motion at Docket Number 47, maintain Docket Numbers 48 and 49 under seal, and allow access to the sealed documents to the people listed in Exhibit A. The order addressed sealing and access to documents; it did not decide the underlying motion to dismiss.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.