One attorney for the customers , Francis Maloify , stated , “ Hertz can ’ t find their cars . They can ’ t fix their broken computer systems . They cannot address their standard operating procedures they should follow and they ’ re breaking other ones . And it ’ s leading to a horrible result where droves of people are coming forward because they ’ re being falsely arrested , jailed or prosecuted by Hertz . And it needs to stop .”
Some of the individuals who claim they were the victim of Hertz ’ s false police reports filed suit before Hertz moved for bankruptcy . However , others filed after that date , claiming that they were not given legally required notice of the bankruptcy , and asked the bankruptcy court to consider their claims timely so that they could recover damages from Hertz . Hertz moved the bankruptcy court to seal the information filed with the bankruptcy court regarding the false police reports , claiming that making the information publicly available would cause it competitive harm .
The claimants objected to the sealing of this information . CBS News then moved to intervene , arguing that the false police reports and related information do not fit into the categories of “ confidential research , development , or commercial information ” that a court can seal under the Bankruptcy Code , 11 U . S . C . § 107 . The Delaware bankruptcy court ruled in a prior case that information concerning settled lawsuits , while embarrassing to a company , was not “ confidential commercial information ,” and refused to seal it . In re Alterra Healthcare Corp ., 353 B . R . 66 ( Bankr . D . Del . 2006 ). Indeed , police reports are public records and cannot be sealed at all . As a general matter , a company cannot shield information just because it is embarrassing or shows the company in a bad light . Even if a document does contain some commercially sensitive information , the court should consider redacting that information , not sealing the document completely .
In its motion to intervene , CBS stated that the public has “ a compelling interest in learning the facts about how customers of a leading global business are treated , and allegedly mistreated , in the way that claimants have vividly described . The likelihood is simply that Hertz will be embarrassed by the disclosure . But that is simply not enough to defeat the statutory and constitutional right to access .”
44 x The Trial Lawyer