The opinion
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6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
7 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
8
9 DAISHA MATTHEWS, Case No. 2:24-cv-01684-WBS-CSK
10 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MODIFIED
STIPULATED PROTECTIVE ORDER
V.
M (ECF No. 18)
12 GOODLEAP, LLC, et al.,
13 Defendants.
14
15 The Court has reviewed the parties’ stipulated protective order below (ECF No.
16 18), and finds it comports with the relevant authorities and the Court’s Local Rule. See
7 L.R. 141.1. The Court APPROVES the protective order, subject to the following
18 clarification.
19 The Court’s Local Rules indicate that once an action is closed, it “will not retain
0 jurisdiction over enforcement of the terms of any protective order filed in that action.” L.R.
141.1(f); see Bylin Heating Sys., Inc. v. Thermal Techs., Inc., 2012 WL 13237584, at *2
09 (E.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 2012) (noting that courts in the district generally do not retain
3 jurisdiction for disputes concerning protective orders after closure of the case). Thus, the
4 Court will not retain jurisdiction over this protective order once the case is closed.
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Dated: December 2, 2024 or _o
27 GHI SOO KIM
4, matt1684.24 UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE
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1 KEMNITZER, BARRON & KRIEG, LLP
KRISTIN KEMNITZER Bar No. 278946
2 ADAM J. MCNEILE Bar No. 280296
MALACHI J. HASWELL Bar No. 307729
3 1120 Mar West St., Ste C2
Tiburon, CA 94920
4 Telephone: (415) 632-1900
Facsimile: (415) 632-1901
5 adam@kbklegal.com
kristin@kbklegal.com
6 kai@kbklegal.com
7 PETER HOLLAND Admitted pro hac vice
THE HOLLAND LAW FIRM
8 914 Bay Ridge Rd., Ste. 230
Annapolis, MD 21403
9 Telephone: (410) 280-6133
Facsimile: (410) 280-8650
10 peter@hollandlawfirm.com
11 Attorneys for Plaintiff DAISHA MATTHEWS
12
13 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
14 FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
15
DAISHA MATTHEWS
16 Case No. 2:24-cv-01684-WBS-CSK
Plaintiff,
17 [PROPOSED] STIPULATED PROTECTIVE
v. ORDER
18
GOODLEAP, LLC; and DOES 1 through 20,
19 inclusive,
20 Defendants.
21
1. PURPOSES AND LIMITATIONS
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Disclosure and discovery activity in this action are likely to involve production of confidential,
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proprietary, or private information for which special protection from public disclosure and from use
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for any purpose other than prosecuting this litigation may be warranted. Accordingly, the parties
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hereby stipulate to and petition the court to enter the following Stipulated Protective Order. The parties
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acknowledge that this Order does not confer blanket protections on all disclosures or responses to
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1 discovery and that the protection it affords from public disclosure and use extends only to the limited
2 information or items that are entitled to confidential treatment under the applicable legal principles.
3 2. DEFINITIONS
4 2.1 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation of information
5 or items under this Order.
6 2.2 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of how it is
7 generated, stored or maintained) or tangible things that qualify for protection under Federal Rule of
8 Civil Procedure 26(c).
9 2.3 Counsel (without qualifier): Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as
10 their support staff).
11 2.4 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or items that it
12 produces in disclosures or in responses to discovery as “CONFIDENTIAL.”
13 2.5 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless of the medium
14 or manner in which it is generated, stored, or maintained (including, among other things, testimony,
15 transcripts, and tangible things), that are produced or generated in disclosures or responses to
16 discovery in this matter.
17 2.6 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter pertinent to the
18 litigation who has been retained by a Party or its counsel to serve as an expert witness or as a consultant
19 in this action.
20 2.7 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this action. House Counsel
21 does not include Outside Counsel of Record or any other outside counsel.
22 2.8 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal
23 entity not named as a Party to this action.
24 2.9 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party to this action
25 but are retained to represent or advise a party to this action and have appeared in this action on behalf
26 of that party or are affiliated with a law firm which has appeared on behalf of that party, and includes
27 support staff.
1 consultants, retained experts, and Outside Counsel of Record (and their support staffs).
2 2.11 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or Discovery Material
3 in this action.
4 2.12 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support services (e.g.,
5 photocopying, videotaping, translating, preparing exhibits or demonstrations, and organizing, storing,
6 or retrieving data in any form or medium) and their employees and subcontractors.
7 2.13 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is designated as
8 “CONFIDENTIAL.”
9 2.14 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material from a
10 Producing Party.
11 3. SCOPE
12 The protections conferred by this Stipulation and Order cover not only Protected Material (as
13 defined above), but also (1) any information copied or extracted from Protected Material; (2) all
14 copies, excerpts, summaries, or compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony,
15 conversations, or presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.
16 Material at trial shall be governed by a separate agreement or order. However, the protections
17 conferred by this Stipulation and Order do not cover the following information: (a) any information
18 that is in the public domain at the time of disclosure to a Receiving Party or becomes part of the public
19 domain after its disclosure to a Receiving Party as a result of publication not involving a violation of
20 this Order, including becoming part of the public record through trial or otherwise; and (b) any
21 information known to the Receiving Party prior to the disclosure or obtained by the Receiving Party
22 after the disclosure from a source who obtained the information lawfully and under no obligation of
23 confidentiality to the Designating Party. Any use of Protected Material at trial shall be governed by a
24 separate agreement or order.
25 4. DURATION
26 Even after final disposition of this litigation, the confidentiality obligations imposed by this
27 Order shall remain in effect until a Designating Party agrees otherwise in writing or a court order
1 defenses in this action, with or without prejudice; and (2) final judgment herein after the completion
2 and exhaustion of all appeals, rehearings, remands, trials, or reviews of this action, including the time
3 limits for filing any motions or applications for extension of time pursuant to applicable law.
4 5. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL
5 5.1 Exercise of Restraint and Care in Designating Material for Protection. Each Party or
6 Non-Party that designates information or items for protection under this Order must take care to limit
7 any such designation to specific material that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The
8 Designating Party must designate for protection only those parts of material, documents, items, or oral
9 or written communications that qualify – so that other portions of the material, documents, items, or
10 communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably within the ambit of
11 this Order.
12 Mass, indiscriminate, or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations that are shown
13 to be clearly unjustified or that have been made for an improper purpose (e.g., to unnecessarily
14 encumber or retard the case development process or to impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on
15 other parties) may expose the Designating Party to sanctions.
16 If it comes to a Designating Party’s attention that information or items that it designated for
17 protection do not qualify for protection, that Designating Party must promptly notify all other Parties
18 that it is withdrawing the inapplicable designation.
19 5.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in this Order (see,
20 e.g., second paragraph of section 5.2(a) below), or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure or
21 Discovery Material that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before
22 the material is disclosed or produced.
23 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:
24 (a) For information in documentary form (e.g., paper or electronic documents, but
25 excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that the Producing Party
26 affix the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” to each page that contains protected material. If only a portion
27 or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also must clearly
1 A Party or Non-Party that makes original documents or materials available for inspection need not
2 designate them for protection until after the inspecting Party has indicated which material it would
3 like copied and produced. During the inspection and before the designation, all of the material made
4 available for inspection shall be deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified
5 the documents it wants copied and produced, the Producing Party must determine which documents,
6 or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before producing the specified
7 documents, the Producing Party must affix the “CONFIDENTIAL” legend to each page that contains
8 Protected Material. If only a portion or portions of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the
9 Producing Party also must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate
10 markings in the margins).
11 (b) for testimony given in deposition or in other pretrial or trial proceedings, that the
12 Designating Party identify on the record, before the close of the deposition, hearing, or other
13 proceeding, all protected testimony.
14 (c) for information produced in some form other than documentary and for any other
15 tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the exterior of the container or
16 containers in which the information or item is stored the legend “CONFIDENTIAL.” If only a portion
17 or portions of the information or item warrant protection, the Producing Party, to the extent practicable,
18 shall identify the protected portion(s).
19 5.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent failure to
20 designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive the Designating Party’s right
21 to secure protection under this Order for such material. Upon timely correction of a designation, the
22 Receiving Party must make reasonable efforts to assure that the material is treated in accordance with
23 the provisions of this Order.
24 6. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS
25 6.1 Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a designation of
26 confidentiality at any time consistent with any Court scheduling order. Unless a prompt challenge to
27 a Designating Party’s confidentiality designation is necessary to avoid foreseeable, substantial
1 does not waive its right to challenge a confidentiality designation by electing not to mount a challenge
2 promptly after the original designation is disclosed.
3 6.2 Meet and Confer. Consistent with all requirements set forth in Local Rule 251 et seq.,
4 the Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute resolution process by providing written notice of each
5 designation it is challenging and describing the basis for each challenge. To avoid ambiguity as to
6 whether a challenge has been made, the written notice must recite that the challenge to confidentiality
7 is being made in accordance with this specific paragraph of the Protective Order. The parties shall
8 attempt to resolve each challenge in good faith and must begin the process by conferring directly (in
9 voice to voice dialogue; other forms of communication are not sufficient) within 21 days of the date
10 of service of notice. In conferring, the Challenging Party must explain the basis for its belief that the
11 confidentiality designation was not proper and must give the Designating Party an opportunity to
12 review the designated material, to reconsider the circumstances, and, if no change in designation is
13 offered, to explain the basis for the chosen designation. A Challenging Party may proceed to the next
14 stage of the challenge process only if it has engaged in this meet and confer process first or establishes
15 that the Designating Party is unwilling to participate in the meet and confer process in a timely manner.
16 If the parties are unable to resolve any disputes pursuant to the above-referenced meet and
17 confer process consistent with Local Rule 251, the parties shall file a Joint Statement re Discovery
18 Disagreement pursuant to Local Rule 251.
19 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on the Designating Party.
20 Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary
21 expenses and burdens on other parties) may expose the Challenging Party to sanctions. Unless the
22 Designating Party has waived the confidentiality designation, all parties shall continue to afford the
23 material in question the level of protection to which it is entitled under the Producing Party’s
24 designation until the court rules on the challenge.
25 7. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
26 7.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is disclosed or
27 produced by another Party or by a Non-Party in connection with this case only for prosecuting,
1 categories of persons and under the conditions described in this Order. When the litigation has been
2 terminated, a Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 13 below (FINAL
3 DISPOSITION).
4 Protected Material must be stored and maintained by a Receiving Party at a location and in a
5 secure manner that ensures that access is limited to the persons authorized under this Order.
6 7.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless otherwise ordered by
7 the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a Receiving Party may disclose any
8 information or item designated “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:
9 (a) the Receiving Party’s Outside Counsel of Record in this action, as well as employees
10 of said Outside Counsel of Record to whom it is reasonably necessary to disclose the information for
11 this litigation;
12 (b) the officers, directors, and employees (including House Counsel) of the Receiving Party
13 to whom disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation;
14 (c) Experts (as defined in this Order) of the Receiving Party to whom disclosure is
15 reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to
16 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 Vendors to whom
20 disclosure is reasonably necessary for this litigation and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and
21 Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A);
22 (g) during their depositions, witnesses in the action to whom disclosure is reasonably
23 necessary and who have signed the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be Bound” (Exhibit A),
24 unless otherwise agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed
25 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material must be separately bound
26 by the court reporter and may not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted under this Stipulated
27 Protective Order.
1 person who otherwise possessed or knew the information.
2 (i) any mediator or settlement officer, and their supporting personnel, mutually agreed
3 upon by any of the parties engaged in settlement discussions.
4 8. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED IN OTHER
LITIGATION
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If a Party is served with a subpoena or a court order issued in other litigation that compels
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disclosure of any information or items designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party
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must:
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(a) promptly notify in writing the Designating Party. Such notification shall include a copy
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of the subpoena or court order;
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(b) promptly notify in writing the party who caused the subpoena or order to issue in the
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other litigation that some or all of the material covered by the subpoena or order is subject to this
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Protective Order. Such notification shall include a copy of this Stipulated Protective Order; and
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(c) cooperate with respect to all reasonable procedures sought to be pursued by the
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Designating Party whose Protected Material may be affected.
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If the Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the subpoena or
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court order shall not produce any information designated in this action as “CONFIDENTIAL” before
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a determination by the court from which the subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained
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the Designating Party’s permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of
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seeking protection in that court of its confidential material – and nothing in these provisions should be
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construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this action to disobey a lawful directive
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from another court.
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9. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE PRODUCED IN THIS
23 LITIGATION
24 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-Party in this
25 action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information produced by Non-Parties in
26 connection with this litigation is protected by the remedies and relief provided by this Order. Nothing
27 in these provisions should be construed as prohibiting a Non-Party from seeking additional
1 (b) In the event that a Party is required, by a valid discovery request, to produce a Non-
2 Party’s confidential information in its possession, and the Party is subject to an agreement with the
3 Non-Party not to produce the Non-Party’s confidential information, then the Party shall:
4 (1) promptly notify in writing the Requesting Party and the Non-Party that some or all
5 of the information requested is subject to a confidentiality agreement with a Non-Party;
6 (2) promptly provide the Non-Party with a copy of the Stipulated Protective Order in
7 this litigation, the relevant discovery request(s), and a reasonably specific description of the
8 information requested; and
9 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party.
10 (c) If the Non-Party fails to object or seek a protective order from this court within 14 days
11 of receiving the notice and accompanying information, the Receiving Party may produce the Non-
12 Party’s confidential information responsive to the discovery request. If the Non-Party timely seeks a
13 protective order, the Receiving Party shall not produce any information in its possession or control
14 that is subject to the confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.
15 Absent a court order to the contrary, the Non-Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking
16 protection in this court of its Protected Material.
17 10. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL
18 If a Receiving Party learns that, by inadvertence or otherwise, it has disclosed Protected
19 Material to any person or in any circumstance not authorized under this Stipulated Protective Order,
20 the Receiving Party must immediately (a) notify in writing the Designating Party of the unauthorized
21 disclosures, (b) use its best efforts to retrieve all unauthorized copies of the Protected Material, (c)
22 inform the person or persons to whom unauthorized disclosures were made of all the terms of this
23 Order, and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment and Agreement to Be
24 Bound” that is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
25 11. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE PROTECTED
MATERIAL
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When a Producing Party gives notice to Receiving Parties that certain inadvertently produced
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material is subject to a claim of privilege or other protection, the obligations of the Receiving Parties
1 are those set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(5)(B). This provision is not intended to
2 modify whatever procedure may be established in an e-discovery order that provides for production
3 without prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar as the
4 parties reach an agreement on the effect of disclosure of a communication or information covered by
5 the attorney-client privilege or work product protection, the parties may incorporate their agreement
6 in the stipulated protective order submitted to the court.
7 12. MISCELLANEOUS
8 12.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any person to seek
9 its modification by the court in the future.
10 12.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this Protective Order
11 no Party waives any right it otherwise would have to object to disclosing or producing any information
12 or item on any ground not addressed in this Stipulated Protective Order. Similarly, no Party waives
13 any right to object on any ground to use in evidence of any of the material covered by this Protective
14 Order.
15 12.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any Protected Material
16 must comply with Civil Local Rule 141.
17 13. FINAL DISPOSITION
18 Within 60 days after the final disposition of this action, as defined in paragraph 4, each
19 Receiving Party must return all Protected Material to the Producing Party or destroy such material. As
20 used in this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,
21 summaries, and any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material. Whether the
22 Protected Material is returned or destroyed, the Receiving Party must submit a written certification to
23 the Producing Party (and, if not the same person or entity, to the Designating Party) by the 60 day
24 deadline that (1) identifies (by category, where appropriate) all the Protected Material that was
25 returned or destroyed and (2) affirms that the Receiving Party has not retained any copies, abstracts,
26 compilations, summaries or any other format reproducing or capturing any of the Protected Material.
27 Notwithstanding this provision, Counsel are entitled to retain an archival copy of all pleadings, motion
1 trial exhibits, expert reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if
2 such materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or constitute
3 Protected Material remain subject to this Protective Order as set forth in Section 4 (DURATION).
4 14. VIOLATION
5 Any violation of this Order may be punished by any and all appropriate measures including,
6 without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.
7 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.
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9 DATED: November 22, 2024 /s/ Kristin Kemnitzer
KRISTIN KEMNITZER
10 Attorney for Plaintiff
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DATED: November 26, 2024 /s/ Fredrick Levin
13 FREDRICK LEVIN
Attorney for Defendant
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1 EXHIBIT A
2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND
3 I, _____________________________ [print or type full name], of _________________ [print or
4 type full address], declare under penalty of perjury that I have read in its entirety and understand the
5 Stipulated Protective Order that was issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern
6 District of California on [date] in the case of ___________ [insert formal name of the case and the
7 number and initials assigned to it by the court]. I agree to comply with and to be bound by all the
8 terms of this Stipulated Protective Order and I understand and acknowledge that failure to so comply
9 could expose me to sanctions and punishment in the nature of contempt. I solemnly promise that I
10 will not disclose in any manner any information or item that is subject to this Stipulated Protective
11 Order to any person or entity except in strict compliance with the provisions of this Order.
12 I further agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District
13 of California for the purpose of enforcing the terms of this Stipulated Protective Order, even if such
14 enforcement proceedings occur after termination of this action.
15 I hereby appoint __________________________ [print or type full name] of
16 _______________________________________ [print or type full address and telephone number] as
17 my California agent for service of process in connection with this action or any proceedings related
18 to enforcement of this Stipulated Protective Order.
19
20 Date: ______________________________________
21 City and State where sworn and signed: _________________________________
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23 Printed name: _______________________________
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25 Signature: __________________________________
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