Supreme Court Denies Cert in Employment Discrimination Record Sealing Case

In a previous post, I discussed the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court was considering whether to weigh in on when employment discrimination case records should be sealed.

The reporters committee for freedom of the press blog now reports that the Court has denied cert. in the case:

The Supreme Court today declined to accept review of an appellate court ruling that has allowed all records in a federal employment discrimination case to be hidden from the public for seven years.

The Court offered no explanation for its refusal to accept the case, New York Law Publishing Company v. Doe.

The publishing firm and two affiliated publications filed a petition for review after the Third Circuit Court of Appeals rejected its request to intervene in the case. It s ought to unseal the docket and record in the case, in which the plaintiff claimed she was wrongly fired because she had an abortion.

I have to say that I was skeptical of such a blanket rule of sealing in such cases and asked whether a similar rule could potentially apply in a sexual harassment case with particularly horrific acts.

Hat Tip: Jack Sargent

PS