1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 11 JUDITH HARRILL, No. 2:23-cv-01672-DC-CKD 12 Plaintiff, 13 v. ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO SEAL 14 EMANUEL MEDICAL CENTER, et al., (Doc. No. 49) 15 Defendants. 16 17 On July 11, 2025, Plaintiff filed a request to file under seal her unredacted first amended 18 class action complaint and file publicly a redacted version of her first amended class action 19 complaint. (Doc. No. 49.) Plaintiff asserts that redactions to portions of the first amended class 20 action complaint she intends to file are required because her allegations include sensitive and 21 private information relating to her past and present health conditions, diagnoses, and healthcare. 22 (Id. at 2.) Defendants did not submit any opposition to Plaintiff’s request to seal. For the reasons 23 explained below, the court will grant Plaintiff’s request to file under seal her unredacted first 24 amended class action complaint. 25 The court recognizes that all documents filed with the court are presumptively public. San 26 Jose Mercury News, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Court,

, 1103 (9th Cir. 1999) (“It is well- 27 established that the fruits of pretrial discovery are, in the absence of a court order to the contrary, 28 presumptively public.”). However, courts may permit a party to file under seal documents, such 1 as a complaint and exhibits thereto, where that party shows “compelling reasons” to support 2 maintaining secrecy of those documents. Kamakana v. City & Cty. of Honolulu,

, 3 1178 (9th Cir. 2006); Fed. Trade Comm’n v. S. Glazers Wine & Spirits, LLC, No. 8:24-cv-02684- 4 FWS-ADS,

, at *1 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 4, 2025) (applying “compelling reasons” 5 standard to a request to seal the complaint and explaining that “because a complaint is ‘the 6 foundation of a lawsuit,’ the court concludes that it is more than ‘tangentially related to merits’ of 7 the case”) (citation omitted). “In general, ‘compelling reasons’ sufficient to . . . justify sealing 8 court records exist when such ‘court files might . . . become a vehicle for improper purposes,’ 9 such as the use of records to gratify private spite, promote public scandal, circulate libelous 10 statements, or release trade secrets.” Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1179 (quoting Nixon v. Warner 11 Commc’ns, Inc.,

, 597 & n.7 (1978)). “The mere fact that the production of records 12 may lead to a litigant’s embarrassment, incrimination, or exposure to further litigation will not, 13 without more, compel the court to seal its records.”

14 “Medical records contain private, confidential, and often sensitive information, and courts 15 often order medical records to be filed under seal.” United States v. Lopez-Perez, No. 1:14-cr- 16 0045-AWI,

, at *1 (E.D. Cal. Mar. 3, 2021); see also Cousin v. Sharp 17 Healthcare, No. 3:22-cv-02040-MMA-DDL,

, at *1 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 14, 2023) 18 (granting motion to file portions of amended complaint containing confidential and sensitive 19 health information under seal); Pratt v. Gamboa, No. 17-cv-04375-LHK,

, at 20 *2 (N.D. Cal. May 22, 2020) (noting that “medical records are deemed confidential under the 21 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” and that “[c]ourts routinely conclude that 22 the need to protect medical privacy qualifies as a compelling reason for sealing records”) (internal 23 quotation marks omitted) (citing cases). 24 Here, the court finds Plaintiff has shown compelling reasons exist to grant her request to 25 seal given the confidential and sensitive personal health information contained in her proposed 26 first amended class action complaint. In addition, the court has reviewed the proposed redactions 27 and finds them to be narrowly tailored to protect Plaintiff’s personal health information from 28 public disclosure. The court will therefore grant Plaintiff’s request to seal. 1 Accordingly, 2 1. Plaintiffs request to seal (Doc. No. 49) is GRANTED; 3 2. Within three (3) days from the date of this order, Plaintiff shall file a redacted 4 version of her first amended class action complaint; and 5 3. Within three (3) days from the date of this order, Plaintiff shall also email a PDF 6 copy of the unredacted version of her first amended class action complaint to 7 ApprovedSealed @caed.uscourts.gov for filing under seal on the docket in this 8 case. 9 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. □ 11 | Dated: _ July 25, 2025 Qe cs Dena Coggins 12 United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28