Vidana v. Dallas Independent School District

United States District Court
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
DALLAS DIVISION
ANALI VIDANA §
v. 5 CIVIL ACTION NO, 3:24-CV-2661-S
DALLAS INDEPENDENT SCHOOL :
DISTRICT §
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Before the Court is the Unopposed Motion by Defendant Dallas Independent School
District for Leave to File Portions of Its Summary Judgment Brief and Summary Judgment
Evidence Under Seal (“Motion to Seal”) [ECF No. 42]. Having reviewed the Motion to Seal and
the applicable law, the Court GRANTS the Motion to Seal.
I. BACKGROUND
In this lawsuit, Plaintiff Anali Vidafia asserts claims for sex and race/ethnicity
discrimination and retaliation, along with constitutional violations. P].’s Second Am. Compl. [ECF
No. 25] fff 4.1-4.13. Defendant filed its Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 39], along with
its Brief in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 40] and its Appendix of
Evidence in Support of Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [ECF No. 41]. Defendant
requests leave to file portions of the Brief and Appendix under seal.
IL. LEGAL STANDARD
Pursuant to Local Civil Rule 79.3(b), “[i]f no statute or rule requires or permits a document
to be filed under seal, a party may file a document under seal only on motion and by permission
of the presiding judge.” The Court “heavily disfavor[s] sealing information placed in the judicial
record.” June Med. Servs., 22 F.4th at 519-20. In determining whether a document should be
sealed, the Court undertakes a “document-by-document, line-by-line balancing of the public’s
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common law right of access against the interests favoring nondisclosure.” Binh Hoa Le, 990 F.3d
at 419 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). This standard is “arduous,” and the
balancing test is stricter than it is at the discovery stage. June Med. Servs., 22 F.4th at 521 (citation
omitted). “[T]he working presumption is that judicial records should not be sealed.” Binh Hoa Le,
990 F.3d at 419 (citation omitted).
Ili. ANALYSIS
Defendant seeks leave to file under seal two categories of information: (1) personally
identifiable information regarding current or former students and (2) personnel information of
Defendant’s employees. Mot. to Seal 2. In support of nondisclosure, Defendant argues that certain
statutes designate these categories of information as confidential and prohibit the public disclosure
of such information. See id. at 2-3 (citing 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; Tex. Epuc. CODE ANN. § 21.355).
For the reasons set forth in the Motion to Seal, the Court agrees that the designated portions
of the Brief and Appendix should be sealed. Additionally, courts have found that nondisclosure is
warranted to protect sensitive information like the “confidential information of third parties.”
Frank Surveying Co. vy. Manhard Consulting, Ltd., No. 3:22-CV-2837-B, 2024 WL 3015535, at *3
(N._D. Tex. June 14, 2024); see also MIECO LLC v. Pioneer Nat. Res., USA, Inc., No. 3:21-CV-
1781-B, 2022 WL 18034481, at *2 (N.D. Tex. Oct. 28, 2022) (“The interest supporting sealing,
namely protecting the confidential information of third parties, outweighs the public’s common
law right of access for the identified information.”).
The Court finds the interests in support of nondisclosure outweigh the public’s common
law right of access to the information at issue here. The relevant pages of the Brief and Appendix
contain third parties’ confidential information, see MIECO, 2022 WL 18034481, at *2, and contain
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information that is protected by statute. As such, the Court will seal the identified portions of the
summary judgment record.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, the Court GRANTS the Unopposed Motion by Defendant
Dallas Independent School District for Leave to File Portions of Its Summary Judgment Brief and
Summary Judgment Evidence Under Seal [ECF No. 42]. The Court DIRECTS Defendant to file
the identified portions of its Brief and Appendix under seal. See Mot. to Seal 3-4.
jLitheQeKAREN GREN SCHOLER
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
SO ORDERED.
SIGNED February 17, 2026.
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