Phillips v. The National Basketball Association
- Vernon Broderick
- 1:22-cv-09666
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 2
In Phillips v. NBA, Judge Broderick granted defendants’ request to keep certain deposition excerpts under seal.
The ruling affects the National Basketball Association, NBA Services Corp., the plaintiffs, deposition witnesses Neal Stern and Byron Spruell, and non-party employees and referees whose information was discussed in the excerpts.
What happened
In Phillips v. The National Basketball Association, the defendants asked the court to keep parts of two deposition transcripts from public view while opposing the plaintiffs’ objections to a magistrate judge’s order.
The transcripts concerned testimony from Neal Stern and Byron Spruell. The defendants said the excerpts included private information about employees and referees, sensitive personal and religious information, and confidential business information about personnel matters and communications with in-house counsel.
Judge Broderick granted the application to keep the described materials under seal. The provided text does not include a separate explanation of the court’s reasoning beyond the defendants’ request and the “APPLICATION GRANTED” notation.
The detailed version
- Phillips v. The National Basketball Association · No. 1:22-cv-09666
- Vernon Broderick
- Feb. 5, 2024
Background
Defendants National Basketball Association and NBA Services Corp. asked the court to keep excerpts of deposition transcripts from Neal Stern and Byron Spruell under seal. The defendants filed the excerpts in connection with their opposition to plaintiffs’ objections to Magistrate Judge Lehrburger’s January 12, 2024 order. That order denied plaintiffs’ request for two additional hours of deposition testimony from each witness, after plaintiffs had already deposed each of them for seven hours.
Requested Sealing
The defendants stated that the excerpts contained private information about non-party employees and referees, including religious-exemption requests; sensitive information about Spruell’s and Stern’s religious beliefs and personal views; information about disciplinary action involving non-party employees; and confidential and proprietary business information concerning personnel matters. The defendants also identified non-public discussions and correspondence involving National Basketball Association executives and in-house counsel, some of which they said occurred in a privileged capacity.
Ruling
The court’s filing bears the notation “APPLICATION GRANTED,” dated February 5, 2024, and signed by Judge Vernon S. Broderick. The application to keep the described deposition excerpts under seal was therefore granted. The provided text does not include a separate written explanation by the court balancing public access against the stated privacy and confidentiality interests.
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.