United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 2025

Brandon Imber, individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated v....

Brandon Imber, individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated v....
United States District Court for the Eastern District of California · Decided December 16, 2025
Brandon Imber, individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated v....

Trial Court Opinion

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA BRANDON IMBER, individually and on Case No. 1:22-cv-00004-HBK behalf of all other similarly situated, 12 ORDER GRANTING NOTICE OF REQUEST Plaintiff, TO SEAL v. (Doc. No. 195) BRUCE LACKEY, PAM LACKEY, DECEMBER 18, 2025 DEADLINE LACKEY FAMILY TRUST, COLE SCHARTON, THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE PEOPLE BUSINESS EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLAN, MIGUEL PAREDES, RICH ROUSH, DEL THACKER, RICHARD DEYOUNG, AND RITCHIE TRUCKING SERVICE HOLDINGS, INC., 20 Defendants.

22 On December 15, 2025, Plaintiff filed a request to seal the Ritchie Trucking Service Valuation Report as of December 31, 2024 (“2024 Valuation Report”). (Doc. No. 195).

24 Defendants did not submit an opposition under Local Rule 141(c).

25 The Court has considered the factors set forth in Oregonian Publishing Co. v. U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, 920 F.2d 1462 (9th Cir. 1990). The Court finds that, for the reasons stated in the Plaintiff’s request, sealing 2024 Valuation Report serves a compelling interest. See, e.g., Hefler v. Wells Fargo & Co., 2018 WL 4207245 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 4, 2018) | (collecting cases) (“There are compelling reasons to keep this information confidential in order to | prevent third parties from utilizing it for the improper purpose of obstructing the settlement and | obtaining higher payouts.”). The Court further finds that, in the absence of closure, the | compelling interests identified by Plaintiff would be harmed. In light of the public filing of its | Notice to Seal, the Court further finds that there are no additional alternatives to sealing the 2024 | Valuation Report that would adequately protect the compelling interests identified by the | Plaintiff.

8 Accordingly, it is ORDERED: 9 1. Plaintiff's unopposed request to seal documents (Doc. No. 195) is GRANTED.

10 2. On or before December 18, 2025, Plaintiff shall provide an electronic copy of the | document to be sealed to the Clerk of Court by email to: ApprovedSealed @caed.uscourts.gov, at | which time the Clerk of Court will file the documents under seal. See Local Rule 141(e)(2)q).

Dated: _ December 16, 2025 law ZA. foareh Zackte 15 HELENA M. BARCH-KUCHTA 6 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.