Company Doe suddenly loves the press!

Yesterday, Company Doe unmasked itself: it’s the baby-carrier maker Ergobaby. It was a smart move to share its side of the story (and a fascinating story it is, told here by Alison Frankel of Reuters and worth a read).

Ergobaby has every right to defend itself in the press — that is, in fact, the very course we argued to the Fourth Circuit that the company ought to have taken from the start instead of seeking the closure of court proceedings.

The timing tickles me, though: the district court has not yet unsealed the case file (presumably because it only just got the case back in its hands yesterday from the appeals court), so the only information out there about the still-sealed facts is what Ergobaby chooses to say. There’s no reason to doubt the details Ergobaby has shared, but until the documents are unsealed, the rest of us can’t judge for ourselves. (The ability to judge for ourselves is, of course, a big part of why Public Citizen, Consumers Union, and Consumer Federation of America went to court to begin with.) Ergobaby thus milks its seal –- while it still lasts –- for all it’s worth.