Marco Baeza v. Coast Community College District

1 CALLAHAN & BLAINE, APLC

David J. Darnell (Bar No. 210166)

2 ddarnell@callahan-law.com

Brett E. Bitzer (Bar No. 264736)

3 bbitzer@callahan-law.com

3 Hutton Centre Drive, Ninth Floor

4 Santa Ana, California 92707

Telephone: (714) 241-4444

5 Facsimile: (714) 241-4445

EXEMPT FROM FEES - CALIFORNIA

6 Attorneys for Defendant GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 6103

COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

7

8 DUCKWORTH & PETERS LLP

Thomas E. Duckworth (Bar No. 152369)

9 tom@duckworthpeters.com

Erika A. Heath (Bar No. 304683)

10 erika@duckworthpeters.com

351 California St., Ste. 700

11 Santa Francisco, California 94104

Telephone: (415) 433-0333

12

Attorneys for Plaintiff MARCO BAEZA

13

14

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

15

CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

16

17 CASE NO.: 8:24-cv-2044-JWH-KES

MARCO BAEZA,

18

Plaintiff,

19

v. STIPULATION AND

20 PROTECTIVE ORDER RE

COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE

CONFIDENTIAL DESIGNATIONS

21 DISTRICT,

22 Defendant. Complaint Filed: September 20, 2024

Trial Date: Not set

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25

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27

1 I. 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 pursuing this litigation may be

5 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 II. GOOD CAUSE STATEMENT

12 Discovery in this action is likely to involve the production of documents and

13 information that one or more parties contends will include sensitive financial,

14 confidential, proprietary, or private information for which special protection from

15 public disclosure and from use for any purpose other than prosecution of this action

16 is warranted. Such confidential and proprietary materials and information may

17 consist of, among other things, confidential business or financial information or

18 information otherwise generally unavailable to the public, or which may be

19 privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure under state or federal statutes,

20 court rules, case decisions, or common law. Accordingly, to expedite the flow of

21 information, to facilitate the prompt resolution of disputes over confidentiality of

22 discovery materials, to adequately protect information the parties are entitled to keep

23 confidential, to ensure that the parties are permitted reasonable necessary uses of

24 such material in preparation for and in the conduct of trial, to address their handling

25 at the end of the litigation, and serve the ends of justice, a protective order for such

26 information is justified in this matter. It is the intent of the parties that information

27 will not be designated as confidential for tactical reasons and that nothing be so

designated without a good faith belief that it has been maintained in a confidential,

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

2 record of this case.

3 III. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF UNDER SEAL FILING PROCEDURE

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

5 Stipulated Protective Order does not entitle them to file confidential information

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

7 and the standards that will be applied when a party seeks permission from the court

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

9 of access to judicial proceedings and records in civil cases. In connection with

10 nondispositive motions, good cause must be shown to support a filing under seal.

11 See Kamakana v. City and County of Honolulu, 447 F.3d 1172, 1176 (9th Cir.

12 2006), Phillips v. Gen. Motors Corp., 307 F.3d 1206, 1210-11 (9th Cir. 2002),

13 Makar-Welbon v. Sony Electrics, Inc., 187 F.R.D. 576, 577 (E.D. Wis. 1999) (even

14 stipulated protective orders require good cause showing), and a specific showing of

15 good cause or compelling reasons with proper evidentiary support and legal

16 justification, must be made with respect to Protected Material that a party seeks to

17 file under seal. The parties’ mere designation of Disclosure or Discovery Material as

18 CONFIDENTIAL does not— without the submission of competent evidence by

19 declaration, establishing that the material sought to be filed under seal qualifies as

20 confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable—constitute good cause.

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

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

23 relief sought shall be narrowly tailored to serve the specific interest to be protected.

24 See Pintos v. Pacific Creditors Ass’n., 605 F.3d 665, 677-79 (9th Cir. 2010). For

25 each item or type of information, document, or thing sought to be filed or introduced

26 under seal, the party seeking protection must articulate compelling reasons,

27 supported by specific facts and legal justification, for the requested sealing order.

Again, competent evidence supporting the application to file documents under seal

1 must be provided by declaration.

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

3 its entirety will not be filed under seal if the confidential portions can be redacted. If

4 documents can be redacted, then a redacted version for public viewing, omitting

5 only the confidential, privileged, or otherwise protectable portions of the document,

6 shall be filed. Any application that seeks to file documents under seal in their

7 entirety should include an explanation of why redaction is not feasible.

8 IV. DEFINITIONS

9 1.1 Action: Marco Baeza v. Coast Community College District,

10 Central District Case No.: 8:24-cv-2044-JWH-KES.

11 1.2 Challenging Party: a Party or Non-Party that challenges the designation

12 of information or items under this Order.

13 1.3 “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items: information (regardless of

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

15 protection under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c), and as specified above in

16 the Good Cause Statement.

17 1.4 Counsel: Outside Counsel of Record and House Counsel (as well as

18 their support staff).

19 1.5 Designating Party: a Party or Non-Party that designates information or

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

21 “CONFIDENTIAL.”

22 1.6 Disclosure or Discovery Material: all items or information, regardless

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

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

25 generated in disclosures or responses to discovery.

26 1.7 Expert: a person with specialized knowledge or experience in a matter

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

an expert witness or as a consultant in this Action.

1 1.8 House Counsel: attorneys who are employees of a party to this Action.

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

3 counsel.

4 1.9 Non-Party: any natural person, partnership, corporation, association or

5 other legal entity not named as a Party to this action.

6 1.10 Outside Counsel of Record: attorneys who are not employees of a party

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

8 in this Action on behalf of that party or are affiliated with a law firm that has

9 appeared on behalf of that party, and includes support staff.

10 1.11 Party: any party to this Action, including all of its officers, directors,

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

12 support staffs).

13 1.12 Producing Party: a Party or Non-Party that produces Disclosure or

14 Discovery Material in this Action.

15 1.13 Professional Vendors: persons or entities that provide litigation support

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

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

18 and their employees and subcontractors.

19 1.14 Protected Material: any Disclosure or Discovery Material that is

20 designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.”

21 1.15 Receiving Party: a Party that receives Disclosure or Discovery Material

22 from a Producing Party.

23 V. SCOPE

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

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

26 extracted from Protected Material; (2) all copies, excerpts, summaries, or

27 compilations of Protected Material; and (3) any testimony, conversations, or

presentations by Parties or their Counsel that might reveal Protected Material.

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

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

3 Protected Material at trial.

4 VI. 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

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

8 members of the public, including the press, unless compelling reasons supported by

9 specific factual findings to proceed otherwise are made to the trial judge in advance

10 of the trial. See Kamakana, 447 F.3d at 1180-81 (distinguishing “good cause”

11 showing for sealing documents produced in discovery from “compelling reasons”

12 standard when merits-related documents are part of court record). Accordingly, the

13 terms of this protective order do not extend beyond the commencement of the trial.

14 VII. DESIGNATING PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

16 Each Party or Non-Party that designates information or items for protection

17 under this Order must take care to limit any such designation to specific material

18 that qualifies under the appropriate standards. The Designating Party must designate

19 for protection only those parts of material, documents, items or oral or written

20 communications that qualify so that other portions of the material, documents, items

21 or communications for which protection is not warranted are not swept unjustifiably

22 within the ambit of this Order.

23 Mass, indiscriminate or routinized designations are prohibited. Designations

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

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

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

27 Party to sanctions.

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

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

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

3 7.2 Manner and Timing of Designations. Except as otherwise provided in

4 this Order, or as otherwise stipulated or ordered, Disclosure of Discovery Material

5 that qualifies for protection under this Order must be clearly so designated before

6 the material is disclosed or produced.

7 Designation in conformity with this Order requires:

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

9 but excluding transcripts of depositions or other pretrial or trial proceedings), that

10 the Producing Party affix at a minimum, the legend “CONFIDENTIAL” (hereinafter

11 “CONFIDENTIAL legend”), to each page that contains protected material. If only a

12 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

13 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

14 in the margins).

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

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

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

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

19 deemed “CONFIDENTIAL.” After the inspecting Party has identified the

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

21 documents, or portions thereof, qualify for protection under this Order. Then, before

22 producing the specified documents, the Producing Party must affix the

23 “CONFIDENTIAL legend” to each page that contains Protected Material. If only a

24 portion of the material on a page qualifies for protection, the Producing Party also

25 must clearly identify the protected portion(s) (e.g., by making appropriate markings

26 in the margins).

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

Disclosure or Discovery Material on the record, before the close of the deposition all

1 protected testimony.

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

3 any other tangible items, that the Producing Party affix in a prominent place on the

4 exterior of the container or containers in which the information is stored the legend

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

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

7 portion(s).

8 7.3 Inadvertent Failures to Designate. If timely corrected, an inadvertent

9 failure to designate qualified information or items does not, standing alone, waive

10 the Designating Party’s right to secure protection under this Order for such material.

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

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

13 Order.

14 VIII. CHALLENGING CONFIDENTIALITY DESIGNATIONS

15 8.1. Timing of Challenges. Any Party or Non-Party may challenge a

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

17 Scheduling Order.

18 7.2 Meet and Confer. The Challenging Party shall initiate the dispute

19 resolution process under Local Rule 37-1 et seq.

20 7.3 Joint Stipulation. Any challenge submitted to the Court shall be via a

21 joint stipulation pursuant to Local Rule 37-2.

22 8.4 The burden of persuasion in any such challenge proceeding shall be on

23 the Designating Party. Frivolous challenges, and those made for an improper

24 purpose (e.g., to harass or impose unnecessary expenses and burdens on other

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

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

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

entitled under the Producing Party’s designation until the Court rules on the

1 challenge.

2 IX. ACCESS TO AND USE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

3 9.1 Basic Principles. A Receiving Party may use Protected Material that is

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

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

6 Protected Material may be disclosed only to the categories of persons and under the

7 conditions described in this Order. When the Action has been terminated, a

8 Receiving Party must comply with the provisions of section 15 below (FINAL

9 DISPOSITION).

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

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

12 authorized under this Order.

13 9.2 Disclosure of “CONFIDENTIAL” Information or Items. Unless

14 otherwise ordered by the court or permitted in writing by the Designating Party, a

15 Receiving Party may disclose any information or item designated

16 “CONFIDENTIAL” only to:

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

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

19 disclose the information for this Action;

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

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

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

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

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

25 (d) the court and its personnel;

26 (e) court reporters and their staff;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9 agreed by the Designating Party or ordered by the court. Pages of transcribed

10 deposition testimony or exhibits to depositions that reveal Protected Material may

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

12 as permitted under this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

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

15 X. PROTECTED MATERIAL SUBPOENAED OR ORDERED PRODUCED

16 IN OTHER LITIGATION

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

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

19 “CONFIDENTIAL,” that Party must:

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

21 include a copy of the subpoena or court order;

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

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

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

25 this Stipulated Protective Order; and

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

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

Designating Party timely seeks a protective order, the Party served with the

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

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

3 subpoena or order issued, unless the Party has obtained the Designating Party’s

4 permission. The Designating Party shall bear the burden and expense of seeking

5 protection in that court of its confidential material and nothing in these provisions

6 should be construed as authorizing or encouraging a Receiving Party in this Action

7 to disobey a lawful directive from another court.

8 XI. A NON-PARTY’S PROTECTED MATERIAL SOUGHT TO BE

9 PRODUCED IN THIS LITIGATION

10 (a) The terms of this Order are applicable to information produced by a Non-

11 Party in this Action and designated as “CONFIDENTIAL.” Such information

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

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

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

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

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

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

18 confidential information, then the Party shall:

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

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

21 with a Non-Party;

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

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

24 description of the information requested; and

25 (3) make the information requested available for inspection by the Non-Party,

26 if requested.

27 (c) If the Non-Party fails to seek a protective order from this court within 14

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

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

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

3 not produce any information in its possession or control that is subject to the

4 confidentiality agreement with the Non-Party before a determination by the court.

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

6 expense of seeking protection in this court of its Protected Material.

7 XII. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 and (d) request such person or persons to execute the “Acknowledgment an

15 Agreement to Be Bound” attached hereto as Exhibit A.

16 XIII. INADVERTENT PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED OR OTHERWISE

17 PROTECTED MATERIAL

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

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

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

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

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

23 prior privilege review. Pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 502(d) and (e), insofar

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

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

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

27 to the court.

1 XIV. MISCELLANEOUS

2 14.1 Right to Further Relief. Nothing in this Order abridges the right of any

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

4 14.2 Right to Assert Other Objections. By stipulating to the entry of this

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

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

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

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

9 14.3 Filing Protected Material. A Party that seeks to file under seal any

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

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

12 specific Protected Material. If a Party’s request to file Protected Material under seal

13 is denied by the court, then the Receiving Party may file the information in the

14 public record unless otherwise instructed by the court.

15 XV. FINAL DISPOSITION

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

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

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

19 this subdivision, “all Protected Material” includes all copies, abstracts, compilations,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1|| transcripts, legal memoranda, correspondence, deposition and trial exhibits, expert

2|| reports, attorney work product, and consultant and expert work product, even if suct

3 || materials contain Protected Material. Any such archival copies that contain or

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

Section 6 (DURATION).

6| XVI. VIOLATION

7 Any violation of this Order may be punished by appropriate measures

8 | including, without limitation, contempt proceedings and/or monetary sanctions.

10 IT IS SO STIPULATED, THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD.

1]

28 12 | Dated: December 9, 2024 CALLAHAN & BLAINE, APLC

By: _/s/ David J. Darnell

14 David J. Darnell

Brett B. Bitzer

15 Attorneys for Defendant COAST

COMM JNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT

18 Dated: December 9, 2024 DUCKWORTH & PETERS LLP

19 By: _/s/ Thomas E. Duckworth

20 Thomas E. Duckworth

Erika A. Heath

1 Attorneys for Plaintiff MARCO BAEZA

22

33 FOR GOOD CAUSE SHOWN, IT IS SO ORDERED.

24

25 DATED: 12/11/2024 db fs Scot

KAREN E. SCOTT

26 United States Magistrate Judge

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