The complaint, filed in the Northern District of California as case number 3:26-cv-00230-SK, names Roblox Corporation and Discord, Inc. as defendants. The minor plaintiff, identified only as Jane Doe E.B., alleges that a child predator targeted her through the companies' platforms. Her guardian, Jane Doe J.B., is also a plaintiff.
Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim granted the motion to proceed under pseudonyms on January 20, 2026. The court relied on the Ninth Circuit's standard from Does I thru XXIII v. Advanced Textile Corp., 214 F.3d 1058 (9th Cir. 2000), under which anonymity is appropriate where "anonymity is necessary to preserve privacy in a matter of sensitive and highly personal nature."
The guardian argued that "not allowing [her] to proceed under [a] pseudonym will inevitably, and swiftly, result in the identification of her minor child." The court noted that concerns about victim identification are heightened where the plaintiff is a young child, and cited Heineke v. Santa Clara Univ., No. 17-cv-05285-LHK (N.D. Cal. Dec. 5, 2017), for the proposition that "courts in the Ninth Circuit have found that allowing victims to proceed anonymously serves a strong public interest in protecting the identities of sexual assault victims so that other victims will not be deterred from reporting such crimes."
The order requires all parties to use the pseudonyms in filings and public proceedings and to redact personally identifying information consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 5.2. Both plaintiffs must, however, disclose their identities to the defendants once the defendants are served and appear in the action.
The substantive claims against Roblox and Discord remain to be litigated. The pseudonym ruling is procedural; the underlying allegations that a child predator exploited an 11-year-old through the companies' platforms have not been adjudicated.