# Rowe v. Google LLC

> District Court, S.D. New York · April 16, 2025

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10847653

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, S.D. New York
- **Decided:** April 16, 2025
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

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## Opinion text

A U L The Clerk of Court is directed to maintain ECF No. 406 under seal and terminate E
me
SO ORDERED.
1(212) 318-6046
kennethgage@paulhastings.com YeorR foarden
1(212) 318-6267 nniferH. Rearden, U.S.D.J.
saratomezsko@pauhastings.com ated: April 16, 2025

April 15, 2025 nae apne
DOCUMENT
VIA ECF ELECTRONICALLY FILED
Hon. Jennifer H. Rearden
U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y. DOC "\—___reroqs—
500 Pearl Street DATE FILED:
New York, NY 10007
Re: Rowe v. Google LLC, Case No. 1:19-cv-08655-JHR
Dear Judge Rearden:
We represent Defendant Google LLC (“Google”) in this matter. Pursuant to Rule 9(C) of Your
Honor’s Individual Rules, we respectfully request permission to file the attached EEOC Position
Statement—an exhibit to Google’s response (ECF No. 404-2) to Plaintiff Ulku Rowe’s letter supplementing
her motion for post-judgment relief—in redacted form. Ms. Rowe consents to Google’s request.
For the same reasons that this Court found that Ms. Rowe’s 2024 EEOC Charge is a “judicial
document’ to which the presumption of public access attaches (ECF No. 403), Google acknowledges that
the EEOC Position Statement! is a judicial document. Lugosch v. Pyramid Co. of Onondaga, 435 F.3d 110,
119 (2d Cir. 2006). Google merely seeks permission to redact from the publicly filed EEOC Position
Statement the identities of (1) current and potential customers and clients of Google Cloud, and (2) certain
former Google employees who are non-parties to this action. These proposed redactions satisfy the
requirement that a sealing order be “narrowly tailored.” /d. at 124.
The EEOC Position Statement, as well as its Exhibits B—-H, J, K, N, O and P, identify current and
potential customers and clients of Google Cloud. Identification of these entities is generally not
disseminated outside of Google without permission from the customer or client. (ECF No. 148? J 3.) Public
disclosure of this information would put Google at a competitive disadvantage in the highly competitive
cloud marketplace. (/d. 6.) Indeed, this Court has previously held that “this information is unnecessary to

1 Attached hereto as Exhibit 1.
Attached hereto as Exhibit 2.

Paul Hastings LLP | 200 Park Avenue | New York, NY 10166

Hon. Jennifer H. Rearden
April 15, 2025
Page 2

adjudicate Plaintiff's claims . . . and the risk of competitive harm outweighs the public right of access.” (ECF
No. 220 at 3.) In so holding, this Court observed correctly that “[p]reventing competitive harm is a
countervailing interest that can override the public right of access.” (/d. (citing U.S. v. Amodeo, 71 F.3d
1044, 1051 (2d Cir. 1995).) See also Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. v. Sunny Merch. Corp., 97 F. Supp. 3d
485, 511 (S.D.N.Y. 2015) (permitting redactions “limited to specific business information . . . which, if
revealed, may provide valuable insights into a company’s current business practices that a competitor
would seek to exploit”). Google respectfully requests permission to redact this information.
The EEOC Position Statement also identifies, and discusses the work performance of, three former
Google employees who are not parties to this action. This information is in the EEOC Position Statement
only to provide context regarding Patricia Florissi’s evaluation of her direct reports more generally. None of
the three employees have anything directly to do with Ms. Rowe’s claims in this action. Again, this Court
has previously held that information of this type is sealable because it is “unrelated to the resolution of this
case and implicates the privacy interests of non-parties.” (ECF No. 220 at 8; see also ECF No. 232 (granting
Google’s motion to seal personnel information of non-parties).) Google respectfully requests permission to
redact the identities of these three individuals.
We thank the Court for its consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
[kine
Kenneth W. Gage
Sara B. Tomezsko
PAUL HASTINGS LLP

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10847653. Public record. Not legal advice.
