The Truth
By Craig Briskin , Richard Zitrin Anti-Secrecy Senior Attorney , Public Justice
Judges sometimes make the news when they unseal court documents revealing that corporations are harming the public . Such cases are usually tort actions , involving products like Oxycontin , cigarettes , Roundup , and Remington rifles . But recent allegations in the Hertz bankruptcy case show that improper sealing of court documents in non-tort cases can harm the public as well . Judges have an obligation , under the First Amendment and common law , not to seal court records unless a company can show that the presumption of public access is outweighed by specific competitive harm that would result from making the documents publicly available .
In the ongoing Hertz bankruptcy , Hertz has sought to seal documents that may show the extent to which it has filed false or inaccurate police reports on customers . If the problem is as bad as advocates and the media say it is , disclosure could lead to protective action by law enforcement , could inform a decision by consumers not to rent Hertz cars , and could motivate Hertz to fix the problem . The public deserves to know the truth about Hertz .
Hertz filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2020 , claiming that the COVID-19 pandemic had decimated its rental car business , although reportedly , it was in trouble even before that . Bankruptcy was not the only problem Hertz was facing . Hundreds of former Hertz customers were coming forward claiming that Hertz had falsely reported to the police their rented vehicles as stolen , resulting in their arrest . A South Carolina man sued Hertz in 2019 , and told CBS News that he had obtained a database in discovery from Hertz containing over 300 similar incidents .
42 x The Trial Lawyer