Baker v. MTA Bus Company
- Reif
- 1:18-cv-12231
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Baker v. MTA Bus Company, Judge Reif granted Baker’s request to redact sensitive employment and medical information from an oral-argument transcript before public filing.
Nedgra Baker, whose employment and medical information was redacted, and members of the public seeking access to the oral-argument transcript.
What happened
In Baker v. MTA Bus Company, Nedgra Baker asked the court to redact limited information from the transcript of an August 3, 2022 oral argument before the transcript was filed publicly. Baker said the transcript included sensitive employment history and medical information.
Baker argued that publicly disclosing those details could cause embarrassment or harm, including when applying for other jobs, while the public would receive little benefit from seeing the specific records. MTA Bus Company took no position on the request.
Judge Timothy M. Reif granted the request. He ordered the official transcript redacted and not filed publicly as shown in Baker’s highlighted version.
The detailed version
- Baker v. MTA Bus Company · No. 1:18-cv-12231
- Reif
- Aug. 18, 2023
Background
Nedgra Baker asked the court to redact limited information from the official transcript of an August 3, 2022 oral argument. The request concerned information Baker identified as sensitive under the Southern District of New York’s electronic-filing rules, including employment history and medical records, treatment, and diagnosis. Baker submitted a highlighted version of the transcript showing the requested redactions.
Baker argued that the transcript contained sensitive discussions about his employment record and medical evaluations by physicians. He also argued that public disclosure could embarrass him or otherwise harm him, including when applying for other jobs, while the public had little or no value in viewing his specific employment and medical records. MTA Bus Company took no position on the request.
Ruling
Judge Timothy M. Reif granted Baker’s request. The court ordered that the official transcript be redacted and not filed publicly as set forth in the highlighted version submitted as Exhibit A. Judge Reif was sitting by designation from the United States Court of International Trade in the Southern District of New York.
Classification
This is a procedural order concerning public access to a court filing and redaction of sensitive information. It does not decide the underlying dispute.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.