# Christopher Sadowski v. Hollywood Unlocked, Inc.

> District Court, C.D. California · August 28, 2020

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10038867

## Case

- **Court:** District Court, C.D. California
- **Decided:** August 28, 2020
- **Opinion:** 100trialcourt
- **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

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## Opinion text

1 Mathew K. Higbee, Esq., SBN 241380
2 Ryan E. Carreon, Esq., SBN 311668
HIGBEE & ASSOCIATES
3 1504 Brookhollow Dr., Suite 112
4 Santa Ana, CA 92705
(714) 617-8336
5 (714) 597-6559 facsimile
6 Email: mhigbee@higbeeassociates.com
rcarreon@higbeeassociates.com
7
8 Attorneys for Plaintiff,
CHRISTOPHER SADOWSKI
9
10 Rodney S. Diggs, Esq. (SBN 274459)
Ivie McNeill Wyatt Purcell & Diggs, APLC
11
444 S. Flower Street, Suite 1800
12 Los Angeles, CA90071
(213) 489-0028 | Phone
13
(213) 489-0552 | Fax
14 rdiggs@imwlaw.com
15
Attorneys for Defendants,
16 HOLLYWOOD UNLOCKED INC.; HOLLYWOOD UNLOCKED AGENCY,
INC.; and HOLLYWOOD UNLOCKED LLC
17
18 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
19
20
CHRISTOPHER SADOWSKI,
Case No. 2:19-CV- 05541-PGS-RAO
21
Plaintiff,
22 STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
v. ORDER1
23
24 HOLLYWOOD UNLOCKED INC.
et al
25
Defendants.
26
27
1 1. A. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
2 Discovery in this action is likely to involve production of confidential,
3 proprietary or private information for which special protection from public
4 disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may
5 be warranted. Accordingly, the parties hereby stipulate to and petition the Court to
6 enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties acknowledge that this
7 Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
8 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends
9 only to the limited information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment
10 under the applicable legal principles.
11
12 B. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT
13 This action is likely to involve trade secrets, proprietary business information
14 of privately held business entities, valuable research and commercial insights into
15 the operation of a website, contracts or confidential communications with third
16 parties who are not parties to this action, financial, technical and/or proprietary
17 information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use for
18 any purpose other than prosecution of this action is warranted. Such confidential
19 and proprietary materials and information consist of, among other things,
20 confidential business or financial information, information regarding confidential
21 business practices, or other confidential research, development, or commercial
22 information (including information implicating privacy rights of third parties),
23 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be
24 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,
25 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of
26 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of
27 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep
1 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling
2 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such
3 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information
4 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so
5 designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,
6 non-public manner, and there is good cause why it should not be part of the public
7 record of this case.
8
9 C. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PROCEDURE FOR FILING UNDER SEAL
10 The parties further acknowledge, as set forth in Section 12.3, below, that this
11 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information
12 under seal; Local Civil Rule 79-5 sets forth the procedures that must be followed
13 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court
14 to file material under seal.
15 There is a strong presumption that the public has a right of access to judicial
16 proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with non-dispositive motions,
17 good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal. See Kamakana v. City and
18 County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir. 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors
19 Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002), Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics,
20 Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even stipulated protective orders
21 require good cause showing), and a specific showing of good cause or compelling
22 reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal justification, must be made with
23 respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to file under seal. The parties’ mere
24 designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as CONFIDENTIAL does not—
25 without the submission of competent evidence by declaration, establishing that the
26 material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as confidential, privileged, or
27 otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.
1 Further, if a party requests sealing related to a dispositive motion or trial, then
2 compelling reasons, not only good cause, for the sealing must be shown, and the
3 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.
4 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n, 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For
5 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced
6 under seal in connection with a dispositive motion or trial, the party seeking
7 protection must articulate compelling reasons, supported by specific facts and legal
8 justification, for the requested sealing order. Again, competent evidence supporting
9 the application to file documents under seal must be provided by declaration.
10 Any document that is not confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable in
11 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted.
12 If documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting
13 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document,
14 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their
15 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.
16
17 2. DEFINITIONS
18 2.1 Action: Christopher Sadowski v. Hollywood Unlocked Inc., et al, 2:19-
19 CV- 05541-PGS-RAO.
20 2.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the
21 designation of information or items under this Order.
22 2.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of
23 how it is generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for
24 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in
25 the Good Cause Statement.
26 2.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
27 their support staff).
1 items that it produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as
2 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
3 2.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless
4 of the medium or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including,
5 among other things, testimony, transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or
6 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery in this matter.
7 2.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter
8 pertinent to the litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as
9 an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.
10 2.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.
11 House Counsel does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside
12 counsel.
13 2.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or
14 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.
15 2.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a
16 party to this Action but are retained to represent or advise a party to this Action and
17 have appeared in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm
18 that has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.
19 2.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,
20 employees, consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their
21 support staffs).
22 2.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or
23 Discovery Material in this Action.
24 2.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation
25 support services (e.g., photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or
26 demonstrations, and organizing, storing, or retrieving data in any form or medium)
27 and their employees and subcontractors.
1 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
2 2.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery
3 Material from a Producing Party.
4
5 3. SCOPE
6 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only
7 Protected Material (as defined above), but also (1) any information copied or
8 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or
9 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or
10 presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
11 Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by the orders of the
12 trial judge. This Order does not govern the use of Protected Material at trial.
13
14 4. DURATION
15 Once a case proceeds to trial, information that was designated as
16 CONFIDENTIAL or maintained pursuant to this protective order used or introduced
17 as an exhibit at trial becomes public and will be presumptively available to all
18 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by
19 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance
20 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”
21 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”
22 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the
23 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.
24
25 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
26 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection.
27 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under
1 qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate for
2 protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written
3 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items
4 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably
5 within the ambit of this Order.
6 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations
7 that are shown to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper
8 purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily encumber the case development process or to impose
9 unnecessary expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Designating
10 Party to sanctions.
11 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it
12 designated for protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must
13 promptly notify all other Parties that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
14 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in
15 this Order (see, e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise
16 stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or Discovery Material that qualifies for protection
17 under this Order must be clearly so designated before the material is disclosed or
18 produced.
19 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
20 (a) for information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic
21 documents, but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial
22 proceedings), that the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend
23 “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that
24 contains protected material. If only a portion of the material on a page qualifies for
25 protection, the Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s)
26 (e.g., by making appropriate markings in the margins).
27 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents available for inspection
1 which documents it would like copied and produced. During the inspection and
2 before the designation, all of the material made available for inspection shall be
3 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the
4 documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which
5 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then,
6 before producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the
7 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a
8 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also
9 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings
10 in the margins).
11 (b) for testimony given in depositions that the Designating Party identifies
12 the Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the
13 deposition all protected testimony.
14 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and
15 for any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on
16 the exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the
17 legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion or portions of the information
18 warrants protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable, shall identify the
19 protected portion(s).
20 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent
21 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive
22 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.
23 Upon timely correction of a designation, the Receiving Party must make reasonable
24 efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with the provisions of this
25 Order.
26
27 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
1 designation of confidentiality at any time that is consistent with the Court’s
2 Scheduling Order.
3 6.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute
4 resolution process under Local Rule 37.1 et seq.
5 6.3 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on
6 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper
7 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other
8 parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the Designating
9 Party has waived or withdrawn the confidentiality designation, all parties shall
10 continue to afford the material in question the level of protection to which it is
11 entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the
12 challenge.
13
14 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
15 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is
16 disclosed or produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this
17 Action only for prosecuting, defending or attempting to settle this Action. Such
18 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the
19 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a
20 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
21 DISPOSITION).
22 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a
23 location and in a secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons
24 authorized under this Order.
25 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless
26 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a
27 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated
1 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this Action, as
2 well as employees of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably
3 necessary to disclose the information for this Action;
4 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of
5 the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action;
6 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom
7 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have signed the
8 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
9 (d) the court and its personnel;
10 (e) court reporters and their staff;
11 (f) professional jury or trial consultants, mock jurors, and Professional
12 Vendors to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this Action and who have
13 signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
14 (g) the author or recipient of a document containing the information or a
15 custodian or other person who otherwise possessed or knew the information;
16 (h) during their depositions, witnesses, and attorneys for witnesses, in the
17 Action to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary provided: (1) the deposing party
18 requests that the witness sign the form attached as Exhibit 1 hereto; and (2) they will
19 not be permitted to keep any confidential information unless they sign the
20 “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A), unless otherwise
21 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
22 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may
23 be separately bound by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except
24 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and
25 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel,
26 mutually agreed upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
27
1 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED
2 IN OTHER LITIGATION
3 If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation
4 that compels disclosure of any information or items designated in this Action as
5 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:
6 (a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification
7 shall include a copy of the subpoena or court order;
8 (b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order
9 to issue in the other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the
10 subpoena or order is subject to this Protective Order. Such notification shall include
11 a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
12 (c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be
13 pursued by the Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
14 If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with
15 the subpoena or court order shall not produce any information designated in this
16 action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before a determination by the court from which the
17 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s
18 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
19 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions
20 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action
21 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.
22
23 9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE
24 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION
25 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a
26 Non-Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information
27 produced by Non-Parties in connection with this litigation is protected by the
1 construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional protections.
2 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to
3 produce a Non-Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is
4 subject to an agreement with the Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s
5 confidential information, then the Party shall:
6 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party
7 that some or all of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality
8 agreement with a Non-Party;
9 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated
10 Protective Order in this Action, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably
11 specific description of the information requested; and
12 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the
13 Non-Party, if requested.
14 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within
15 14 days of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party
16 may produce the Non-Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery
17 request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a protective order, the Receiving Party shall
18 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the
19 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
20 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and
21 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.
22
23 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
24 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed
25 Protected Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this
26 Stipulated Protective Order, the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in
27 writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized disclosures, (b) use its best efforts
1 persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this Order,
2 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and
3 Agreement to Be Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
4
5 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE
6 PROTECTED MATERIAL
7 When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain
8 inadvertently produced material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection,
9 the obligations of the Receiving Parties are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil
10 Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to modify whatever
11 procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
12 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and
13 (e), insofar as the parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a
14 communication or information covered by the attorney-client privilege or work
15 product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement in the stipulated
16 protective order submitted to the court.
17
18 12. MISCELLANEOUS
19 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any
20 person to seek its modification by the Court in the future.
21 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this
22 Protective Order, no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to
23 disclosing or producing any information or item on any ground not addressed in this
24 Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives any right to object on any
25 ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective Order.
26 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any
27 Protected Material must comply with Local Civil Rule 79-5. Protected Material
1 specific Protected Material at issue. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material
2 under seal is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information
3 in the public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.
4
5 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
6 After the final disposition of this Action, as defined in paragraph 4, within 60
7 days of a written request by the Designating Party, each Receiving Party must return
8 all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As used in
9 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
10 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected
11 Material. Whether the Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving
12 Party must submit a written certification to the Producing Party (and, if not the same
13 person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day deadline that (1) identifies
14 (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was returned or
15 destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies,
16 abstracts, compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any
17 of the Protected Material. Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to
18 retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion papers, trial, deposition, and hearing
19 transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert
20 reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if such
21 materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or
22 constitute Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in
23 Section 4 (DURATION).
24 //
25 //
26 //
27 //
1 || 14. VIOLATION
2 |} Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures including,
3 |} without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
4 || //
5 || ITIS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
6
7 || DATED: August 27, 2020
8 || /s/ Ryan E. Carreon
9 Attorneys for Plaintiff

10
DATED: August 27, 2020
11
12
/s/ Rodney S. Diggs
13 || Attorneys for Defendant
14
15
FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.
16
17
DATED: August 28, 2020
18
19 Rayelis, ds, QL.
20 || HON. ROZELLA A. OLIVER
United States Magistrate Judge
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3
4 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of
5 _________________ [print or type full address], declare under penalty of perjury
6 that I have read in its entirety and understand the Stipulated Protective Order that
7 was issued by the United States District Court for the Central District of California
8 on [date] in the case of Christopher Sadowski v. Hollywood Unlocked, Inc., et al,
9 2:19-CV- 05541-PGS-RAO. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the
10 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that
11 failure to so comply could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of
12 contempt. I solemnly promise that I will not disclose in any manner any
13 information or item that is subjq ect to this Stipulated Protective Order to any
14 person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
15 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the
16 Central District of California for enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective
17 Order, even if such enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
18 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
19 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and
20 telephone number] as my California agent for service of process in connection with
21 this action or any proceedings related to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective
22 Order.
23 Date: ______________________________________
24 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
25
26 Printed name: _______________________________
27

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10038867. Public record. Not legal advice.