Talia Thorsen v. Costco Wholesale Corporation

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10 SOUTHERN DIVISION

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TALIA THORSEN, CASE NO. 8:20-cv-00248-JVS (JDEx)

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13 Plaintiff,

STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER –

14 CONFIDENTIAL DESIGNATION ONLY

vs.

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COSTCO WHOLESALE

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CORPORATION, a Washington

17 Corporation; and DOES 1-25, Inclusive,

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Defendants.

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Based on the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 12), and good cause appearing therefor, the

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Court finds and orders as follows:

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1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS

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Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential, proprietary

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or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use

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for any purpose other than pursuing this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the

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parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated

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Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket

1 p rotections on all disclosures or responses to discovery and that the protection it affords

2 from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited information or items that are

3 entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.

4 2. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

5 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, customer and pricing lists and other

6 valuable research, development, commercial, financial, technical and/or proprietary

7 information, personal financial information, personal health and medical information,

8 tax return information, and other material for which special protection from public

9 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is

10 warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of,

11 among other things, confidential business and/or personal financial information,

12 information regarding confidential business practices, or other confidential research,

13 development, or commercial information (including information implicating privacy

14 rights of third parties), health and medical information, and other information generally

15 unavailable to the public, or which may be privileged or otherwise protected from

16 disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case decisions, or common law.

17 Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of

18 disputes over confidentiality of discovery materials, to adequately protect information

19 the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted

20 reasonable necessary uses of such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial,

21 to address their handling at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a

22 protective order for such information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the

23 parties that information will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and

24 that nothing be so designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a

25 confidential, non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the

26 public record of this case.

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1 3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

2 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 14.3, below, that this

3 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle or require them to file confidential

4 information under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be

5 followed and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the

6 court to file material under seal. There is a strong presumption that the public has a right

7 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-

8 dispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See

9 Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips

10 v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony

11 Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders

12 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling

13 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with

14 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere

15 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—

16 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the

17 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or otherwise

18 protectable—constitute good cause.

19 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then

20 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the relief

21 sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected. See Pintos

22 v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For each item or type

23 of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced under seal, the party

24 seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and

25 legal justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting

26 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.

27 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in its

1 d ocuments can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting only

2 the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document, shall be

3 filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their entirety should

4 include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

5 4. DEFINITIONS

6 4.1 Action: TALIA THORSEN v. COSTCO WHOLESALE

7 CORPORATION, a Washington Corporation, case number 8:20-cv-00248-JVS-JDE.

8 4.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of

9 information or items under this Order.

10 4.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how

11 it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under

12 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in the Good Cause

13 Statement.

14 4.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as their

15 support staff).

16 4.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

17 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

18 4.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of

19 the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among

20 other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated

21 in disclosures or responses to discovery.

22 4.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

23 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an

24 expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

25 4.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

26 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.

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1 4.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

2 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action and which is not related or affiliated

3 with a Party to this Action.

4 4.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to

5 this Action but are retained to represent a party to this Action and have appeared in this

6 Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has appeared on behalf

7 of that party, and includes support staff.

8 4.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

9 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their

10 support staffs).

11 4.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

12 Discovery Material in this Action.

13 4.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

14 services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or

15 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium) and

16 their employees and subcontractors.

17 4.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated

18 as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

19 4.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

20 from a Producing Party.

21 5. SCOPE

22 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected

23 Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from

24 Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected

25 Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties or their

26 Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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1 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the trial

2 judge and other applicable authorities. This Order does not govern the use of Protected

3 Material at trial.

4 6. DURATION

5 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as

6 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced as

7 an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members of

8 the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific factual

9 findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance of the trial. See

10 Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing

11 documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-

12 related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective

13 order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

14 7. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

15 7.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each

16 Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order

17 must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the

18 appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection only those

19 parts of material, documents, items or oral or written communications that qualify so

20 that other portions of the material, documents, items or communications for which

21 protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this Order.

22 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that

23 are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g.,

24 to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose unnecessary

25 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.

26 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it

27 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must

1 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this

2 Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material that

3 qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material

4 is disclosed or produced.

5 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

6 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic

7 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial

8 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend

9 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that

10 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for

11 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,

12 by making appropriate markings in the margins).

13 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection need

14 not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which

15 documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the

16 designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be deemed

17 “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the documents it wants

18 copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents, or portions

19 thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified

20 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page

21 that contains Protected Material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for

22 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g.,

23 by making appropriate markings in the margins).

24 (b) for testimony given in depositions, that the Designating Party identifies

25 the Disclosure or Discovery Material that it deems “CONFIDENTIAL” on the record,

26 before the close of the deposition.

27 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for

1 e xterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

2 “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants protection,

3 the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected portion(s).

4 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure

5 to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the

6 Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon

7 timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to

8 assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this Order.

9 8. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

10 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation

11 of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s Scheduling Order.

12 8.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution

13 process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

14 8.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a joint

15 stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

16 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the

17 Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g.,

18 to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the

19 Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating Party has waived or withdrawn

20 the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the material in

21 question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s

22 designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

23 9. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

24 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

25 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this Action

26 only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such Protected

27 Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the conditions

1 d escribed in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a Receiving Party must

2 comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL DISPOSITION).

3 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a

4 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons

5 authorized under this Order.

6 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise

7 ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party

8 may disclose any information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

9 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as well

10 as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to

11 disclose the information for this Action;

12 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the

13 Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;

14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom

15 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the

16 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

17 (d) the court and its personnel;

18 (e) court reporters and their staff;

19 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional

20 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have

21 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);

22 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a

23 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

24 (h) witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the Action to whom disclosure

25 is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the witness agree to be bound by the terms of the

26 Order; and (2) the witness is not permitted to keep any confidential information unless

27 they sign the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless

1 d eposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be

2 separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as

3 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

4 (i) any mediators or settlement officers and their supporting personnel,

5 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.

6 10. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

7 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

8 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that

9 compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as

10 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

11 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall

12 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

13 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order

14 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena

15 or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this

16 Stipulated Protective Order; and

17 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued

18 by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected. If the Designating

19 Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or court order

20 shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL”

21 before a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the

22 Party has obtained the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear

23 the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court of its confidential material

24 and nothing in these provisions should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a

25 Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

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1 11. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

2 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

3 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a

4 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

5 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies

6 and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be construed as

7 prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

8 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to

9 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject

10 to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential

11 information, then the Party shall:

12 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that

13 some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a

14 Non-Party;

15 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective

16 Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific

17 description of the information requested; and

18 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-

19 Party, if requested.

20 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within

21 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may

22 produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If

23 the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any

24 information in its possession or control that is subject to the confidentiality agreement

25 with the Non-Party before a determination by the court. Absent a court order to the

26 contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in this

27 court of its Protected Material.

1 12. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

2 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed

3 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this

4 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing

5 the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve

6 all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or persons to

7 whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order, and (d) request

8 such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an Agreement to Be Bound”

9 attached hereto as Exhibit A.

10 13. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

11 PROTECTED MATERIAL

12 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain

13 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the

14 obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure

15 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure may be

16 established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior privilege

17 review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the parties reach

18 an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by

19 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their

20 agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.

21 14. MISCELLANEOUS

22 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

23 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.

24 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

25 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to

26 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this

27 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any ground

1 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected

2 Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material may only be filed

3 under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific Protected

4 Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal is denied by the court,

5 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless otherwise

6 instructed by the court.

7 15. FINAL DISPOSITION

8 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 6, within 60 days

9 of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return all

10 Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in this

11 subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

12 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

13 Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must

14 submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or

15 entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60-day deadline that (1) identifies (by category,

16 where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or destroyed and (2)

17 affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts, compilations,

18 summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.

19 The costs for destruction or return of the materials will be borne by the Designating

20 Party. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of

21 all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing transcripts, legal memoranda,

22 correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and

23 consultant and expert work product, even if such materials contain Protected Material.

24 Any such archival copies that contain or constitute Protected Material remain subject to

25 this Protective Order as set forth in Section 6 (DURATION).

26 16. VIOLATION

27 Any intentional violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

1 Pursuant to the parties’ Stipulation (Dkt. 12), and good cause appearing therefor,

2 IS SO ORDERED.

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4 ||DATED: May 27, 2020 fo

5 IOAN D. EARLY

nited States Magistrate Jiidge

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1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of

4 ________________________________________________ [print or type full address],

5 declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the

6 Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Central

7 District of California on May 27, 2020 in case number 8:20-cv-00248-JVS-JDE, I agree

8 to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Protective Order, and I understand

9 and acknowledge that failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment

10 for contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any information

11 or item that is subject to this Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict

12 compliance with this Order.

13 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for

14 the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing this Order, even if such

15 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.

16 Date: ___________________________

17 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________

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19 Printed name: _______________________

20 Signature: __________________________

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