From yesterday's decision by Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses (S.D.N.Y.) in Doe v. Black Diamond Capital Mgmt. LLC:
Now before the Court is the motion of plaintiff "John Doe" for an order granting leave to proceed under a pseudonym, or in the alternative, to seal his complaint. {[H]is brief does not discuss the standards for sealing judicial documents in this Circuit, nor otherwise flesh out this point.} For the reasons that follow, the motion will be denied….
Plaintiff previously suffered from an opiate addiction. Additionally, he was arrested in 2014, for drug possession, but "successfully completed a drug treatment program and was never convicted of any crime." As of April 19, 2022—the date on which he filed this action—plaintiff had been sober for five and a half years.
Plaintiff alleges that on June 21, 2021, he was contacted by an executive search firm, SG Partners, regarding an Associate position on the Private Equity Team at defendant Black Diamond Capital Management (BDCM). [He got an offer, but it was then rescinded after he informed BDCM of his past addiction. -EV] [Plaintiff sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act] (asserting that his prior addiction constitutes a disability cognizable under 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1)(A)), the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law….
[P]laintiff argues that litigating under his true name would cause "embarrassment to himself and his family," due to the "societal stigma commonly associated with addiction," and damage to his current and future job prospects, because "[t]he industry in which Plaintiff sought employment (and which he maintains employment currently) is not as large as some may think, and Plaintiff has a legitimate fear that his current and future job prospects may be negatively impacted if his former addiction is revealed." He adds that since he litigated before the EEOC in his own name, BDCM already knows his true identity, and has been supplied with all of his "filed charge materials" from the EEOC….
