Ron Ramirez v. Sierra Aluminum Company

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8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

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11 RON RAMIREZ, an individual, on Case No. 5:20-cv-00417-JGB-KK

behalf of himself, and on behalf of all

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persons similarly situated, District Judge: Hon. Jesus G. Bernal

13 Magistrate Judge: Kenya Kiya Kato

Plaintiff,

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STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER

15 vs.

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SIERRA ALUMINUM COMPANY,

17 a California Corporation; SAMUEL

SON & CO., INC.; and Does 2

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through 50, Inclusive,

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Defendants.

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1 1. GENERAL

2 1.1 Purpose and Limitations. Discovery in this action is likely to involve

3 production of confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special

4 protection from public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting

5 this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and

6 petition the Court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties

7 acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or

8 responses to discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and

9 use extends only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential

10 treatment under the applicable legal principles. The parties further acknowledge, as

11 set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle

12 them to file confidential information under seal; Civil Local Rule 79-5 sets forth the

13 procedures that must be followed and the standards that will be applied when a party

14 seeks permission from the court to file material under seal.

15 1.2 Good Cause Statement. This action is likely to involve the disclosures of

16 (1) material protected under the constitutional, statutory, or common law right to

17 privacy and (2) confidential business, financial, propriety, or private personnel,

18 policy, and payroll information for which special protection from public disclosure

19 and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such

20 confidential and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,

21 confidential information regarding current and former employees; confidential

22 business or financial information; information regarding confidential business

23 practices; other confidential research, development or commercial information

24 (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties); information

25 otherwise generally unavailable to the public; and information that may be privileged

26 or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes, court rules, case

27 decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of information, to

1 to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep confidential, to

2 ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of such material in

3 preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling at the end of the

4 litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such information is

5 justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information will not be

6 designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so designated

7 without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential, non-public

8 manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public record on this

9 case.

10 2. DEFINITIONS

11 2.1 Action: Action refers to the above referenced matter titled Ron Ramirez

12 v. Sierra Aluminum Company, et al.; Case No. 5:20-cv-00417-JGB-KK.

13 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

14 of information or items under this Order.

15 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

16 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection

17 under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) or concern or relate to the confidential or

18 proprietary information of (1) Defendant Sierra Aluminum Company; (2) Plaintiff

19 Ron Ramirez; or 3) any third parties, the disclosure of which information is likely to

20 have the effect of causing harm to the competitive position of Defendants or to the

21 organization or persons from whom the information was obtained or the party’s

22 privacy. Confidential Information also includes private information pertaining to

23 Defendants’ or a third party’s employees, for which Defendants or a third party has a

24 duty to maintain the confidentiality of such information. Information designated

25 Confidential may be used only for the purposes of investigating, proving, refuting or

26 otherwise litigating the claims and defenses pleaded by the Parties in (i) Plaintiff’s

27 operative complaint in the Action, and/or (ii) Defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s

1 operative complaint in the Action, and not for any other purpose. Such information

2 may not be disclosed to anyone except as provided in this Order.

3 2.4 Counsel: “Counsel” means Outside Counsel of Record and House

4 Counsel (as well as their support staff), including, but not limited to:

5 1) Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP and its

6 respective support staff and other employees who are not

7 employed by a Party and to whom it is necessary to disclose

8 Confidential Information for the purpose of this action;

9 2) Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smaok & Stewart, P.C. and their

10 respective support staff and other employees who are not

11 employed by a Party and to whom it is necessary to disclose

12 Confidential Information for the purpose of this action;

13 2.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

14 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as

15 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

16 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

17 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including

18 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or

19 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.

20 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

22 an expert or as a consultant in the Action.

23 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action

24 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside

25 counsel.

26 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or

27 legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

1 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party

2 to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and have

3 appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that

4 has appeared on behalf of that party, including support staff.

5 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

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

7 support staffs).

8 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

9 Discovery Material in this Action.

10 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

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

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

13 and their employees and subcontractors.

14 2.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

15 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

16 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

17 from a Producing Party.

18 3. SCOPE

19 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only

20 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted

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

22 Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or presentations by Parties

23 or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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

25 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.

26 4. DURATION

27 Once a case proceeds to trial, all of the court-filed information to be introduced

1 protective order becomes public and will be presumptively available to all members

2 of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by specific

3 factual findings to proceed otherwise are made by the trial judge in advance of the

4 trial. See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1180-81 (9th Cir.

5 2006) (distinguishing “good cause” showing for sealing documents produced in

6 discovery from “compelling reasons” standard when merits-related documents are

7 part of court record). Accordingly, the terms of this protective order do not extend

8 beyond the commencement of the trial.

9 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

10 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection

11 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this

12 Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material that qualifies

13 under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for protection

14 only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral or written communications for

15 which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of this

16 Order.

17 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

18 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper

19 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose

20 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating Party

21 to sanctions.

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

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

24 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.

25 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

26 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise

27 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection

1 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or

2 produced.

3 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

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

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

7 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that

8 contains protected material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page

9 qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected

10 portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).

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

12 need not designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated

13 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and

14 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be

15 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting party has identified the documents

16 it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,

17 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing

18 the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL

19 legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a portion or portions

20 of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party must clearly

21 identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the

22 margins).

23 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party

24 identify the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the

25 deposition.

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

27 and for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place

1 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information warrants

2 protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the protected

3 portion(s).

4 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

5 failure 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.

7 Upon timely correction of designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable

8 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this

9 Order.

10 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

11 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

12 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s

13 Scheduling Order.

14 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

15 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1, et seq. Any discovery motion must strictly

16 comply with the procedures set forth in Local Rules 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3.

17 6.3 Burden. The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding

18 shall be on the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an

19 improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on

20 other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating

21 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall

22 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled

23 under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the challenge.

24 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

25 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

27 Action only for investigating, prosecuting, proving, refuting or otherwise litigating

1 in the Proceeding, and/or (ii) Defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s operative complaint

2 in the Proceeding. Such Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of

3 persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been

4 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below

5 (FINAL DISPOSITION).

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

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

8 authorized under this Order.

9 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

10 otherwise ordered by the Court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

11 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

12 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

14 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably

15 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;

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

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

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

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

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

21 (d) the Court and its personnel;

22 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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

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

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

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

27 a custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;

1 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in

2 the Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing

3 party requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit A hereto; and (2) they

4 will not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the

5 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise

6 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the Court. Pages of transcribed

7 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may be

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

9 permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

10 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,

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

12 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED

13 PRODUCED IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

16 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

18 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

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

20 order to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the

21 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include

22 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

24 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.

25 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the party served with

26 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this action

27 as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the subpoena

1 Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking protection in that court

2 of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions should be construed as

3 authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action to disobey a lawful

4 directive from another court.

5 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

6 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

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

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

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

10 remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing in these provisions should be

11 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.

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

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

14 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s

15 confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

17 Party that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality

18 agreement with a Non-Party.

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

20 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably

21 specific description of the information requested; and

22 (3) Make the information requested available for inspection by the

23 Non-Party, if requested.

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

25 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party

26 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery

27 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall

1 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the Court.

2 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense

3 of seeking protection in this Court of its Protected Material.

4 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

8 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts

9 to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c) inform the person or

10 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,

11 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgement and

12 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

13 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

14 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

16 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection

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

18 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever procedure

19 may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production without prior

20 privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e) insofar as the

21 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or

22 information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the

23 parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated protective order submitted

24 to the Court.

25 12. MISCELLANEOUS

26 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

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

1 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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

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

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

5 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.

6 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

7 Protected Material must comply with Civil Local Rule 79-5. Protected Material may

8 only be filed under seal pursuant to a court order authorizing the sealing of the specific

9 Protected Material at issue; good cause must be shown in the request to file under

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

11 then the Receiving Party may file the information in the public record unless

12 otherwise instructed by the Court.

13 13. FINAL DISPOSITION

14 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60

15 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return

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

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

18 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected

19 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving

20 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same

21 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies

22 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or

23 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,

24 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any

25 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to

26 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing

27 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

1 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

2 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in

3 Section 4 (DURATION).

4 14. VIOLATION OF ORDER

5 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate

6 measures including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary

7 sanctions.

8 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD:

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10 DATED: July 9, 2020 OGLETREE, DEAKINS, NASH, SMOAK &

11 STEWART, P.C.

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By /s/ Christopher W. Decker

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Christopher W. Decker

15 Sage S. Stone

Attorneys for Defendant

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17 DATED: July 9, 2020 BLUMENTHAL NORDREHAUG

BHOWMIK DE BLOUW LLP

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19 By /s/ Jeffrey S. Herman

Jeffrey S. Herman

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Attorneys for Plaintiff Ron Ramirez

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FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

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23 DATED: July 10, 2020

24 _______________________________

25 Honorable Kenly Kiya Kato

United States Magistrate Judge

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1 EXHIBIT A

2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND

3 I, ____________________________________________ [print or type full

4 name], of ________________________________ [print or type full address], declare

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

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

7 District of California on [date] in the case of Ron Ramirez v. Sierra Aluminum

8 Company; Case No. 5:20-cv-00417-JGB-KK.

9 I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the terms of this Stipulated

10 Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply could

11 expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise

12 that I will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this

13 Stipulated Protective Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with

14 the provisions of this Order.

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

16 for the Central District of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this

17 Stipulated Protective Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after

18 termination of this action. I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or

19 type full name] of ______________________________________________ [print or

20 type full address and telephone number] as my California agent for service of process

21 in connection with this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this

22 Stipulated Protective Order.

23 Date: _____________________________________

24 City and State where sworn and signed: ___________________________________

25 Printed name: _________________________________

26 Signature: ____________________________________

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