Case 1:20-cv-00632-JSR Document 73 Filed 06/12/20 Page 1 of 12

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

KRISTOPHER R. OLSON,
CHRISTOPHER LOPEZ, WARREN
BARBER, CHRISTOPHER CLIFFORD,
AND ERIK LIPTAK, individually
and on behalf of all others
similarly situated,
20-cv-632 (JSR)
Plaintiffs,
MEMORANDUM ORDER
v.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL; MLB

Defendants.

JED S. RAKOFF, U.S.D.J.

On April 3, 2020 the Court dismissed the above-captioned

action with prejudice against defendants Major League Baseball

and MLB Advanced Media, L.P. (collectively “MLB”), the Boston

Red Sox Baseball Club, L.P., and the Houston Astros, LLC. ECF

No. 55. Plaintiffs moved for reconsideration of this decision

and for leave to file an amended complaint. ECF No. 64. On June

5, 2020, the Court issued a memorandum order denying plaintiffs’

motion. ECF No. 72. In this latter order, the Court relied on

and discussed a letter sent by MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred

to the General Manager of the New York Yankees, which was filed

under seal at the request of the defendants. In the ordinary

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course, the Court would have unsealed the letter at that time.1

However, defendant MLB and third-party the New York Yankees (the

“Yankees”) requested continued sealing of the letter, while

plaintiffs opposed this request.

I.   Background

The Court here assumes full familiarity with the prior

history of this case as set forth in detail in the Court’s prior

orders of April 3, 2020 (“MTD Opinion”) and June 5, 2020

(“Reconsideration Order”). As is relevant here, this is a

putative class action lawsuit brought by players of DraftKings

Inc. (“DraftKings”) fantasy baseball contests against certain

major league baseball entities and teams. In February,

defendants moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim

plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint (“FAC”), which asserted

various claims of fraud, negligence, unjust enrichment, and

violations of consumer protection laws. The Court granted the

1
This Court’s standard confidentiality order, which the parties
here signed and agreed to on March 12, 2020, ECF No. 46,
contains the following language:
The Court . . . retains unfettered discretion whether or
not to afford confidential treatment to any Confidential or
Highly Confidential Document or information contained in
any Confidential or Highly Confidential Document submitted
to the Court in connection with any motion, application, or
proceeding that may result in an order and/or decision by
the Court.
Defendant MLB is therefore in no position to complain about
unsealing. However, the third-party Yankees was not a party to
that order.

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dismissal with prejudice, partially on the ground that the FAC

failed to plausibly allege any actionable misrepresentation by

the defendants that could support their various theories of

liability. See MTD Opinion.

Thereafter, plaintiffs moved for reconsideration of the

Court’s conclusion that the complaint should be dismissed with

prejudice. In support of this motion, plaintiffs submitted a

proposed amended complaint (“PAC”) that they argued cured the

FAC’s deficiencies. One of the primary ways in which the PAC did

so, according to plaintiffs, was by alleging two new actionable

misrepresentations by the defendants. One such misrepresentation

was allegedly made by MLB Commissioner Manfred in a September

15, 2017 press release relating to the results of an MLB

investigation into possible misconduct by the New York Yankees

(the “2017 Press Release”). Specifically, plaintiffs alleged

that the 2017 Press Release falsely suggested that the

investigation found that the Yankees had only engaged in a minor

technical infraction, whereas, according to plaintiffs, the

investigation had in fact found that the Yankees engaged in a

more serious, sign-stealing scheme.

In support of this allegation, plaintiffs filed a letter

sent from MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred to the General Manager

of the New York Yankees (the “Yankees Letter”) discussing the

same investigation, which plaintiffs argued proved Manfred’s

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duplicity. The Yankees Letter -- which plaintiffs obtained from

defendants during discovery -- was filed under seal at the

request of MLB and the third-party Yankees. In its memorandum

order denying plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration, the Court

found it necessary to refer to the Yankees Letter. See

Reconsideration Order at 8-9. Despite the Court’s reference to

the letter, MLB and the Yankees now seek its continued sealing.

Plaintiffs oppose this motion.

II.   Legal Framework

The public enjoys a common law presumptive right of access

to judicial documents, a right that is “potent and fundamental”

and that “predates even the U.S. Constitution.”2 Mirlis v. Greer,

952 F.3d 51, 58 (2d Cir. 2020) (citing United States v. Amodeo,

44 F.3d 141, 145 (2d Cir. 1995) (“Amodeo I”)). This presumption

of access recognizes that “[a]n adjudication is a formal act of

government, the basis of which should, absent exceptional

circumstances, be subject to public scrutiny.” Joy v. North, 692

F.2d 880, 893 (2d Cir. 1982). Access to judicial documents is

necessary for judges “to have a measure of accountability and

2
The First Amendment also guarantees the public a right to
access certain judicial documents. Bernstein v. Bernstein
Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, 814 F.3d 132, 141 (2d Cir.
2016). The Court, however, does not reach the question of
whether such a First Amendment right guarantees access to the
Yankees Letter because the parties failed to meaningfully raise
this issue in their briefing on this matter.

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for the public to have confidence in the administration of

justice.” United States v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d 1044, 1048 (2d Cir.

1995) (“Amodeo II”). By ensuring such accountability and trust

in the rule of law, the public’s presumptive right to access

court documents is “integral to our system of government”

itself. United States v. Erie Cty., N.Y., 763 F.3d 235, 238–39

(2d Cir. 2014). It is for these reasons that this Court, before

allowing any sealing in any case, requires the parties to agree

that the Court retains unfettered discretion to thereafter

unseal any document submitted to the Court in connection with

any motion that may result in a decision by the Court. See

footnote 1, supra.

While a presumption of public access thus attaches to all

judicial documents, whether this presumption prevails over a

party’s objection to the disclosure of a particular document (in

this case, in particular, the third-party New York Yankees,

which was not a signatory to the Court’s standard protective

order, see footnote 1, supra) requires a three part analysis. As

a preliminary matter, a Court must determine whether the

document is in fact a judicial document. Lugosch v. Pyramid Co.

of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110, 119 (2d Cir. 2006). Next, the Court

must determine the strength of the presumption that attaches to

the document in question. Id. Finally, the Court must determine

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whether competing considerations outweigh the presumption that

attaches to the document. Id. at 120.

III.   Analysis

a.  Judicial Document

There is no doubt, and the parties do not appear to

dispute, that the Yankees Letter is a judicial document. In

order to be designated a judicial document, “the item filed must

be relevant to the performance of the judicial function and

useful in the judicial process.” Amodeo I, 44 F.3d at 145. Here,

as evidenced by the fact that the Court referred to it in its

Reconsideration Order, the Yankees Letter was relevant to the

Court’s resolution of the motion for reconsideration. This

renders it a judicial document. See Brown v. Maxwell, 929 F.3d

41, 49 (2d Cir. 2019) (holding that a document is “relevant to

the performance of the judicial function if it would reasonably

have the tendency to influence a district court’s ruling on a

motion” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)).

b.  Weight of Presumption

The Yankees Letter is not only a judicial document, but one

to which a very strong presumption of public access attaches.

“[T]he weight to be given the presumption of access must be

governed by the role of the material at issue in the exercise of

Article III judicial power and the resultant value of such

information to those monitoring the federal courts.” Amadeo II,

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71 F.3d at 1049. Thus, the presumption is “at its zenith” where

documents “directly affect an adjudication, or are used to

determine litigants’ substantive legal rights,” and is at its

weakest where a document is neither used by the Court nor

“presented to the court to invoke its powers or affect its

decisions.” Bernstein v. Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann

LLP, 814 F.3d 132, 142 (2d Cir. 2016) (internal quotation marks

and citation omitted). Thus, for example, documents submitted to

a court in connection with a granted summary judgment motion are

entitled to a strong presumption of public access, while

documents exchanged between parties during discovery and never

presented to the Court are subject to a low presumption of

access. Id. In addition, a more weighty presumption of access

attaches to where a document is of greater “value . . . to those

monitoring the federal courts.” Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1049.

The Yankees Letter represents the kind of document to which

the strongest presumption of access applies. It was submitted to

the Court in connection with a motion for reconsideration of the

Court’s grant of a motion to dismiss, the Court’s final

adjudication the parties’ substantive legal rights. Brown, 929

F.3d at 50 (noting that the presumption is strongest for

“dispositive motions such as motions for dismissal”). Moreover,

the Yankees Letter formed one of the primary bases for the

plaintiffs’ motion for reconsideration, and was thus squarely

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“presented to the court to invoke its powers or affect its

decisions.” Bernstein, 814 F.3d at 142.

MLB and the Yankees nonetheless assert that only a low

presumption of access applies because, they claim, the

Reconsideration Order itself stated that the Yankees Letter was

immaterial to the Court’s decision. MLB and the Yankees,

however, misapprehend the Court’s order. In that order, the

Court explained that “whether or not” Manfred’s statement in the

2017 Press Release “was a misrepresentation . . . [was] not

material” to the success of plaintiffs’ fraud or negligent

misrepresentation claims. Reconsideration Order at 9. The Court

was plainly discussing the materiality of representations in the

2017 Press Release as a matter of law, not the materiality of

the Yankees Letter to the Court’s decisionmaking process. More

importantly, the Court’s very discussion of both the 2017 Press

Release and the Yankees Letter demonstrates that both letters

were integral to the Court’s reasoning in this case. As a

result, a member of the public -- or perhaps the substantial

putative class on whose behalf plaintiffs acted -- seeking to

understand the Court’s reasons would require access to these

letters. This renders the Yankees Letter of significant “value .

. . to those monitoring the federal courts,” further reinforcing

the Court’s determination that the presumption of access is at

its strongest. Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1049.

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c.  Competing Considerations

While a strong presumption of access thus attaches to the

Yankees Letter, this does not end the Court’s inquiry. After

determining the weight of the presumption, a “court must

‘balance competing considerations against it,’” such as “‘the

danger of impairing law enforcement or judicial efficiency’ and

‘the privacy interests of those resisting disclosure.’” Lugosch,

435 F.3d at 120 (quoting Amodeo II, 71 F.3d at 1050). In this

case, both MLB and the Yankees argue that their privacy

interests in avoiding disclosure of the letter outweigh the

presumption of access. The privacy interests of MLB and the

Yankees, however, are modest at best, and not nearly strong

enough to overcome the robust presumption of access that

attaches to the Yankees Letter. See Bernstein, 814 F.3d at 142

(finding that where the presumption of access is at its

strongest, the competing interests must rise to the level of

“extraordinary” to be overriding).

Where a party asserts a privacy interest in avoiding

disclosure, the Court weighs that interest by considering “both

‘the degree to which the subject matter is traditionally

considered private rather than public,’ as well as ‘[t]he nature

and degree of the injury’” to which the party resisting

disclosure would be subjected were the privacy interest not

protected. Mirlis, 952 F.3d at 61. Both MLB and the Yankees

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assert that the Yankees Letter, as the product of an internal

investigation that has not previously been shared beyond these

two parties, is a traditionally private document to which a

significant privacy interest attaches. The 2017 Press Release,

which publicized the results of the same investigation discussed

in the Yankees Letter, however, contradicts this notion. While

the parties may not wish to publicize the particular wording

included in the Yankees Letter, its substance, as MLB itself

argued in its motion for reconsideration briefing, is already

public. Thus, the Yankees Letter is not a particularly private

affair.

Furthermore, neither MLB nor the Yankees has pointed to a

particularly significant injury that will result from

disclosure. MLB primarily argues that it will be injured by the

disclosure of the Yankees Letter because such disclosure will

undermine its ability to conduct internal investigations in the

future by undermining teams’ faith in their confidentiality. As

indicated above, however, this argument is undermined by the

MLB’s own 2017 Press Release, as well as other MLB press

releases, which demonstrate that MLB regularly releases the

results of internal investigations as a matter of course. MTD

Opinion at 5-6.

The injury asserted by the Yankees is no more compelling.

The Yankees argue that they have a strong privacy interest

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because public disclosure of the Yankees Letter would cause the

Yankees significant reputational injury. While this may be the

case, the gravity of this concern is again lessened by the fact

that the contents of the Yankees Letter have already been

discussed in some form by the 2017 Press Release. Furthermore,

while the Court is persuaded that certain individuals mentioned

in the letter possess a strong privacy interest in maintaining

anonymity, this interest can be protected by simple redaction of

their names from any publicly-filed version of the letter.

Thus, neither the nature of the Yankees Letter, nor the

purported injury that might result from its disclosure, suggests

that the heavy presumption in favor of access is overcome here.

Much of the letter’s contents have already been revealed in the

2017 Press Release. Furthermore, embarrassment on the part of

MLB or the Yankees about the precise contents of the letter is

not particularly weighty, and the privacy interests of any

individuals mentioned in the letter may be remedied by minimal

redaction. As a final note, although MLB and the Yankees attempt

to impugn the motives of plaintiffs’ opposition to continued

sealing of the letter, they offer no evidence of plaintiffs’ bad

faith beyond speculation. Thus, although the Court may consider

plaintiffs’ motives in determining whether to unseal a document,

see Mirlis, 952 F.3d at 62-24, the Court finds no basis for

doing so here.

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Accordingly, the Court finds that the strong presumption in

favor of unsealing the Yankees Letter has not been rebutted.

IV.   Conclusion

For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that the Yankees

Letter should be unsealed. The Court, however, will provide MLB

and the Yankees the opportunity to submit by noon on Monday,

June 15, 2020, a minimally redacted version of the letter to

protect the identity of individuals mentioned therein. Moreover,

at the request of the Yankees, the Court will stay unsealing of

the Yankees Letter until June 19, 2020 to allow the Yankees time

to take an emergency appeal to the Second Circuit pursuant to 28

U.S.C. § 1291. If plaintiffs oppose such a stay, they should

file a brief outlining such opposition by 5:00 pm on June 15,

2020.

SO ORDERED.

Dated: New York, NY ________________________

June 12, 2020 JED S. RAKOFF, U.S.D.J.

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