U.S. court: Companies can't litigate secretly to protect image

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U.S. court: Companies can't litigate secretly to protect image

In a victory for consumers, a federal appeals court on Wednesday directed that litigation about a product linked to the death of an infant be made public, saying the manufacturer could not keep the details secret to protect its image. Overturning a lower court's findings, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said allowing the manufacturer known in court papers as Company Doe to maintain confidentiality "effectively shut out" the public and the press from their constitutional right to obtain access to civil proceedings. "A corporation very well may desire that the allegations lodged against it in the court of litigation be kept from public view to protect its corporate image, but the First Amendment right of access does not yield to such an interest," Circuit Judge Henry Floyd wrote for the appeals court. Three consumer advocacy groups - the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union and Public Citizen - had sought to make the records public and reveal Company Doe's identity.

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