WHITE □□□□□□□ Memo Endorsed

Application Granted. SO ORDERED. August 22, 2019 ) WhiekCesoLp SO 1221 Avenue of the Americas VIA ECF New York, NY 10020-1095 T +1 212819 8200 The Honorable Ona T. Wang whitecase.com United States District Court Ona T. Wang 2/28/2020 Southern District of New York U.S. Magistrate Judge 500 Pearl Street aS 8 New York, NY 10007-1312 Re: Carmen Nieves v. Andrew M. Saul, Commissioner of Social Security, No. 18-cv- 02629 (OTW) (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 23, 2018) Dear Judge Wang, Pursuant to Section 3(d) of Your Honor’s Individual Practices, Plaintiff Carmen Nieves submits this letter to request redaction of the references to Plaintiff's medical records and medical conditions in the July 11, 2019 conference transcript. Plaintiff submits simultaneously with this letter the proposed redacted version of the transcript. See Exhibit A. Plaintiff accepts that the transcript is a “judicial document” under the definition set forth in Bernstein v. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman LLP,

(2d Cir. 2016). Plaintiff contests, however, that a First Amendment or a common-law presumption of access applies to Plaintiff's sensitive medical information. Plaintiff possesses a privacy interest in keeping her sensitive medical records confidential. See Olszewski v. Bloomberg, L.P., No. 96- civ-3393 (RPP),

, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 13, 2000) (recognizing “a privacy interest in keeping one’s medical and mental health records confidential”). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) and accompanying Department of Health Services regulations also ensure the confidentiality of Plaintiff's “protected health information.”

(a). This includes “the provision of health care” to Plaintiff and Plaintiff's “past, present or future physical or mental health or condition[.]”

. Courts in the Second Circuit have repeatedly held that information protected by HIPAA is not subject to a First Amendment or common-law presumption of access and have sealed and redacted documents that contain such information. See, e.g., Dilworth v. Goldberg, No. 10-cv- 2224 (JMF),

, at *2 n. 3 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 1, 2014); Tavares v. Lawrence & ’l Hosp., No. 3:11-cv-770 (CSH),

, at *11 (D. Conn. Sept. 20, 2012); Hand v. New York City Transit Auth., No. 11-cv-997 (RRM) (MDG),

, at *5-6 (E.D.N.Y. Aug. 26, 2012); Wheeler-Whichard v. Doe, No. 10-cv-0358S,

, at *7 (W.D.N.Y. Aug. 25, 2010). Plaintiff therefore requests redaction of the references to her sensitive and confidential health information in the July 11, 2019 conference transcript.

WHITE QCASE

Respectfully submitted, /s/ Steven F, Rivera Steven F. Rivera White & Case LLP 1221 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Tel: (212) 819-8659 [email protected] Attorney for Plaintiff, Carmen Nieves ce: Counsel of Record (via ECF) Enclosures