From Friday's decision by Judge William Shubb (E.D. Cal.) in Beitzel & K.K. v. Becerra:
Plaintiff K.K. has filed a Motion to Proceed with Partial Anonymity. Plaintiff K.K. requests that she be able to proceed by her initials in all public filings in this case because the filing "will contain sensitive and personal information about her rare and severe medical conditions that she has disclosed to very few people, as well as the mental distress and suffering she has experienced relating to her medical conditions and the events underlying this case." Specifically, she does not want to disclose to the public her medical history of severe psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and arthritis mutilans, which would cause her "emotional distress, anxiety, embarrassment, and potential harassment." {Plaintiff K.K. also wishes to avoid disclosing details of her finances to the public.} She notes that her identity has already been disclosed to defendant and she only wishes to remain anonymous to the general public.
Allowing a party to proceed anonymously runs counter to the public's right of access to judicial proceedings. However, the Ninth Circuit has allowed parties to use pseudonyms "in the unusual case when nondisclosure of the party's identity is necessary to protect a person from harassment, injury, ridicule or personal embarrassment." In determining whether to allow a party to proceed anonymously, the court looks to whether "the party's need for anonymity outweighs prejudice to the opposing party and the public's interest in knowing the party's identity.
