Dekker v. Vivint Solar, Inc.

6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 GERRIE DEKKER, et al., 11 Plaintiffs, No. C 19-07918 WHA 12 v.

13 VIVINT SOLAR, INC., et al., ORDER RE MOTION TO SEAL 14 Defendants.

17 This order addresses the motion to seal filed in conjunction with plaintiff’s rely in 18 support of her Rule 36(b) motion to amend her admissions (Dkt. No. 267). Plaintiff lodged 19 those exhibits conditionally under seal, and defendants filed a declaration in support of sealing 20 some of that material (Dkt. No. 269).

21 There is a strong public policy in favor of openness in our court system and the public is 22 entitled to know to whom we are providing relief (or not). See Kamakana v. City & Cty. Of 23 Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1178–80 (9th Cir. 2006). Consequently, access to motions and their 24 attachments that are “more than tangentially related to the merits of a case” may be sealed only 25 upon a showing of “compelling reasons” for sealing. Ctr. for Auto Safety v. Chrysler Grp., 26 LLC, 809 F.3d 1092, 1101–02 (9th Cir. 2016). Filings that are only tangentially related to the 27 merits may be sealed upon a lesser showing of “good cause.” Id. at 1097. The compelling 1 limine and Daubert motions can be strongly correlative to the merits of acase. Id. at 1098- 2 1100.

3 This order rules as follow: 5 sealed 67-8 Exhibit E, Expert GRANTED. Vivint seeks to seal: §]49 and fn. 32; 6 Report of Bruce ]64; 987 and fn. 50; [9126-132 and McFarlane fn. 74; Figures 13 and 14; and 7 Figure 15 (column [b] only). Upon review, this order finds the proposed 8 redactions narrowly tailored and 9 address specific, sensitive information originating from a third- 10 party appraisal of Vivint’s solar panel installations. This order 11 further finds that disclosure of this D information may injure Vivint’s competitive standing (Chang Decl.).

13 The request is GRANTED as to the requested portions.

14 567-9 Exhibit F, Reply GRANTED. See entry for Dkt. No. 267-8. The Report of Leland request is GRANTED as to the 15 Price requested portions: 21; 929-30.

A 16 67-10 Exhibit G, Excerpt | GRANTED. See entry for Dkt. No. 267-8. The of Deposition request is GRANTED as to the 17 Testimony of requested portions: 25:1-178:16.

Bruce McFarlane Z 18 20 The parties shall refile all relevant documents in full compliance with this order by no 21 later than FOURTEEN DAYS from the date of this order.

22 IT IS SO ORDERED.

24 Dated: July 25, 2022. | i{ Pee 26 = LLIAM ALSUP 27 UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE