Schoenadel v. YouGov America, Inc.

Background

YouGov America, Inc. asked the court for permission to remove certain documents from the public docket and file redacted versions. The documents included four declarations, Schoenadel’s response to YouGov’s statement of undisputed facts and statement of additional facts, and Schoenadel’s memorandum opposing YouGov’s motion for summary judgment. The documents were filed at docket entries 100, 101, 103, 104, 108, and 109. Schoenadel opposed the request.

According to YouGov, the documents and related references contained unsupported allegations about third parties’ drug use, arrests, and affairs. YouGov argued that the allegations implicated third parties’ privacy interests, could cause reputational harm, were unrelated to Schoenadel’s claims, and were partly based on secondhand information.

Legal standard

The court’s order applied the presumption that the public may access judicial records. That presumption can be overcome when redaction is necessary to protect a more important interest and is narrowly tailored to that purpose. The cited legal standard considers whether the subject is traditionally private, the nature and degree of potential injury, and the reliability of the information.

Ruling

The court granted the application in part. YouGov may redact information related to any affair. The court declined to allow redaction of information about unlawful activity and arrests, stating that those matters are not traditionally considered private. Because YouGov had not met its burden regarding that information, it should not be redacted.

Judge Arun Subramanian directed the Clerk of Court to terminate the motion at docket entry 110. The order did not decide YouGov’s underlying motion for summary judgment.