From Judge Alan Johnson's decision today in Doe v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity (D. Wyo.) (the "fraternity" is really a sorority), declining to reconsider an earlier decision:
I yearn for the day where litigants seek their courts unburdened by the mere possibility of physical reprisal. That hope may be quixotic today. The digital age is one of comprehensive access, whether via electronic case files, search engines, or Twitter updates. Gone are the days where motions and orders collected dust in the anachronistic file rooms below this courthouse. Litigants' privacy expectations have too changed. Federal lawsuits are, more and more, above-the-fold news. Add in salacious claims against one, who Plaintiffs concede, stands in the public forum and the media spotlight bums brighter. "But the threat of significant media attention—however exacerbated by the modem era—alone does not entitle a plaintiff to the exceptional remedy of anonymity under [Fed. R. Civ. P.] 10." Rapp v. Fowler (S.D.N.Y. 2021). {"In private civil suits, courts recognize there is a significant interest in open judicial proceedings since such suits do not only advance the parties' private interests, but also further the public's interest in enforcing legal and social norms." Doe v. Leonelli (S.D.N.Y. 2022).} Plaintiffs insert themselves into a contentious debate gripping our nation; their collective residence in a known location is cause for concern.
However, Plaintiffs' conclusory fears of unspecified retaliation, sans any particularized facts, are insufficient to meet the exceptional circumstance of pseudonymity. See also Doe v. Lee (M.D. Tenn. 2022) (holding that a plaintiff's: (1) concerns that a lawsuit "might receive press attention that might expose him to harm from members of the public" were speculative; and (2) failure to offer evidence "that such harm [was] likely" was insufficient to warrant pseudonymity); Doe v. Weber State Univ. (D. Utah Oct. 29, 2021) (rejecting a physical-harm exception where the adult plaintiff provided "no information, evidence, or particularized facts supporting" her claim) (also noting that the plaintiffs sexual misconduct allegations "all relate[d] to how [the public university] addressed, or failed to address, [her] complaints"). While Plaintiffs offer no authority prompting reconsideration, the Court cannot unearth a single instance where the Tenth Circuit has granted the physical-harm exception.
