Sow v. City Of New York

Background

The parties submitted a stipulated confidentiality order concerning administration of a proposed class-action settlement. They anticipated filing a settlement agreement and asking for preliminary approval of the settlement. Rust Consulting, Inc. was identified as the proposed claims administrator.

The parties stated that settlement administration and notice to the settlement class would require access to information held by the New York City Police Department and other City agencies. The information could include records protected by federal, state, and local privacy laws. The plaintiffs also wanted to share draft preliminary-approval papers and draft short-form and long-form notices with Rust Consulting for review of the claims-administration process.

Court-Ordered Protections

The order authorized the parties to provide the claims administrator with information required by the settlement agreement. The listed information included class members’ full names, known aliases, Social Security numbers when appropriate, dates of birth, summons numbers, arrest numbers, New York State identification numbers, and last known addresses.

Information provided solely to administer the settlement was required to remain confidential. Disclosure was limited to class counsel, defense counsel, certain City agencies, the claims administrator, and, if necessary, the court through an application to file under seal. Class counsel and the claims administrator could disclose information to their staff only when necessary to carry out the order, and they could disclose a class member’s confidential information to that class member when necessary.

The order also unsealed, for the limited purpose described in the order, New York Police Department records produced in discovery that concerned settlement-class members and had been sealed under specified federal, state, and local laws. The plaintiffs were authorized to provide Rust Consulting with draft settlement-related documents solely for review of claims administration. Before disclosure, class counsel had to give each recipient a copy of the confidentiality order, obtain written consent to its restrictions, retain the signed consent, and promptly provide copies to defense counsel.

Disposition

The court entered the parties’ confidentiality stipulation as an order. The order concerned access to and protection of information for administering a proposed settlement; the text does not decide the underlying claims or grant final approval of the settlement.