Motion To Maintain Pseudonym (Jane Doe) Status
Matter on the Law & Motion and Discovery Calendar for Monday, August 3, 2026, Line 5, PLAINTIFF JANE DOE's Motion To Maintain Pseudonym (Jane Doe) Status.
Plaintiff's notice of motion to maintain pseudonym status is denied without prejudice to filing another motion seeking to maintain pseudonym status based on a fuller evidentiary record. The evidence submitted with the reply papers is not considered by the court due to the lack of any opportunity by the defendants to respond to that evidence in writing. Plaintiff's moving papers, which rely heavily on plaintiff's unverified complaint, contain insufficient evidence to enable the court to conduct the required overriding interest test.
This is not one of those "rare cases" where the overriding interest test can be evaluated based entirely on the evidence sought to be wittheld from the public. (Roe v. Smith (2025) 116 Cal. App. 5th 227, 243). As plaintiff's counsel is well aware, the case law on the permissibility of a party to use a pseudonym makes clear that the court must consider evidence, not just an unverfied pleading, in ruling on the motion. (Id.; Department of Fair Employment & Housing (2022) 82 Cal. App. 5th 105, 112).
Because the allegatons of sexual conduct in the complaint "do fall into the category of highly sensitive and private matters" (Roe, supra), the court believes that, much like granting leave to amend after a demurrer is sustained where there is a reasonable possibility that the pleading defects can be corrected, plaintiff should be given another opportunity to file a motion seeking to maintain her current pseudonym satus.
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